ABSTRACT
Economic reform and the opening up of China to the world have transformed its economy and social class formation. This is particularly the case in the housing field. In the past three decades, the Chinese housing system has undergone profound changes associated with the launch of housing reforms. As a result, the in-kind welfare housing provision system based on the work unit system in the socialist period has been replaced by a market-oriented housing system in which accessibility to housing largely depends on ability to pay. A majority of urban households have become homeowners. This has led to the expansion of an emerging middle class, which is considered both the result of the social engineering of the reformist state and a consequence of the opening up of the economy and emergence of a private housing market (Tomba 2004). Although there have been some studies on the consequences of housing reforms in China (for instance, Wang 2004; Wang and Murie 2000), there has been little research which explores systematically the impact of housing policy on young people in Chinese cities. This chapter seeks to fill this gap by examining the current housing conditions of Chinese youth and the various housing problems they face. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, which holds that the middle class benefit from economic reform, our findings suggest that, while pro-homeownership policy and housing marketization reforms have created rising wealth for some, there has been a serious housing crisis among Chinese youth. This includes even the most privileged social group, young civil servants. Young people in China are struggling with various kinds of housing problems as a result of escalating housing prices and unfavourable institutional arrangements.
