The impact of housing stress on fertility intentions among young people in urban China

Housing has been recognised as an important factor associated with decreasing fertility in urban China. Despite a growing number of studies dedicated to the investigation of the impact of adverse housing conditions on fertility intentions, the understanding of housing-fertility nexus remains relatively fragmented, characterised by an incomplete picture of housing stressors and conflicting findings that fail to explain why some people experiencing adverse housing conditions tend to have lower fertility intentions whilst others do not. Framing the transactional theory of stress into the housing contexts, this study redefined housing stress to enhance its explanation compared with correlation explanations in the previous literature. Using Shenzhen as a study area, this study aimed to address the research gaps by (1) exploring the multidimensional housing stressors that shape young people’s fertility intentions and (2) examining the mechanism of how the stressor is perceived as stress, and how the stress influences fertility intentions. Employing a design combining grounded theory and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, this study identified market-driven, institutional, and household-driven stressors, revealing their dynamics interplay. It elucidated dual impact pathways of housing stress on fertility intentions. Specifically, the transactional interaction between housing stressors and ideal-oriented beliefs fosters a threat appraisal, suppressing fertility intentions, while those with reality-oriented beliefs promotes a challenge appraisal, resulting in a sustaining effect on fertility intentions. The sufficiency analysis of fsQCA identified four distinct configuration types, highlighting causal complexity around these pathways. By exploring the nexus between housing stress and fertility intentions, this study provides insights to mitigate housing stress and fertility anxiety among young people in urban China.