Homeownership among Older Adults in Urban China: the Importance of Institutional Factors.

Homeownership is a key element to maintain social welfare and stability in an aging society. Yet, the existing literature on homeownership does not adequately address non-Western cultures and institutional factors. We used two nationwide surveys in 2006 and 2010 to investigate how institutional factors are associated with homeownership among older adults in China. Institutional factors were measured by proxy measures of job seniority, political status, type of work units, and hierarchy of cities. After controlling for demographics, resources, health needs, neighborhood characteristics, and cultural factors, we found that homeownership was strongly associated with these institutional factors among the current cohorts of older adults in China. Older adults who were more senior or who were from public sectors tended to have a higher odds of homeownership. Older adults in the top or bottom of the city hierarchy tended to have a lower odds of homeownership than those in other types of cities. Implications of these findings are discussed.