Employment Instability and Housing Precarity Among Rural-to-Urban Migrants in China: Challenges and Policy Implications

A growing body of research has explored housing affordability in China, with a focus on the factors contributing to housing difficulties. However, limited attention has been given to housing precarity, particularly among disadvantaged groups experiencing employment instability. Despite recent shifts in rural to urban migration trends in China, challenges such as restricted access to housing and stable employment have become increasingly prevalent for this group, exacerbated by persistent institutional barriers. While the interplay between housing precarity and job instability has been extensively studied in the international contexts, there remains a notable gap in understanding these dynamics among Chinese rural to urban migrants. This study seeks to address this gap by investigating how employment instability exacerbates housing precarity and how these challenges limit migrants' access to social welfare and hinder their social integration in urban destinations. Using data from Chinese household surveys and empirical estimations, the findings reveal that unstable employment, characterised by irregular income or precarious contracts, limits individuals’ ability to afford secure and adequate housing, perpetuating a cycle of housing and economic insecurity. The heterogeneity effect by educational achievement highlights that migrants with greater qualifications demonstrate increased likelihood in securing job opportunities, thereby reducing the adverse impacts on housing security. The findings enrich this field of study by offering China-specific insights, calling for policy attention to address the housing and labour challenges for rural to urban migrants.