ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Personality and Social Psychology
Unequal Benefits: Housing Provident Fund and Happiness Among China's Migrant and Non-Migrant Populations
Weijun Li 1
Yutong Wu 2
Mingzhi Hu 3
1. Anhui University of Technology, Ma'anshan, China
2. Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Wuhan, China
3. Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, China
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Abstract
This study examines whether China's Housing Provident Fund (HPF) improves subjective well-being equitably across urban populations. Using data from the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS), we ask two questions: (1) Does HPF participation enhance individuals' happiness? (2) Do its effects differ between migrant and non-migrant residents? Employing multivariate regression models with rich socioeconomic controls, we find that HPF participation is positively associated with overall happiness. However, this association is uneven: a statistically significant positive relationship is observed for non-migrants, while no statistically meaningful association is found for migrants. Mechanism analyses indicate that this disparity stems from migrants' limited ability to utilize HPF benefits, particularly housing loans, due to unstable employment and shorter job tenures that hinder eligibility and savings accumulation. These findings reveal that a policy designed as a universal housing support system produces unequal welfare outcomes. By shifting attention from average effects to distributional consequences, this study advances the literature on housing policy and subjective well-being and demonstrates how universal programs can reinforce existing social stratification in rapidly urbanizing societies.
Summary
Keywords
China, Equality, happiness, Housing Provident Fund, migrant
Received
07 November 2025
Accepted
28 January 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Li, Wu and Hu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Mingzhi Hu
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