Home ownership in relation with family formation and child bearing

Abstract

It is believed that home ownership has a positive connection with family formation and child bearing as there is a speed up process of attaining home-ownership when the couples are in anticipation of starting family and having children. However, home ownership in relation with family formation and child bearing are not always in positive connection as other factors are necessary to be taken into consideration when associating relationship between them, such as (i) postponement of marriage and child bearing, (ii) family background, (iii) housing markets and financial systems, and (iv) government policies which will be investigated internationally in this research and tested the hypothesis in Hong Kong.

With the family budget constraints, cost competition between housing and marriage or child bearing is one of the significant factors affecting the couples’ decision in home purchasing. Our empirical results from the questionnaire survey demonstrated that home ownership is perceived as a precondition to marriage and child bearing and indicated that the cost competition between becoming home owners and becoming parents was strong. Postponement of marriage and child bearing are found over the past decade and decrease in number of children that the respondents wanted to have are the current trend. Our empirical results also show that family background is an important factor affects decision of the couples in home purchasing when getting married and in anticipation of having children. Facing a budget constraint, most of the young couples depend on their parents who are in owner-occupied housing tenure for financial assistance to succeed their home purchasing dreams.

Nowadays, Hong Kong residential property value has also increased sharply in recent years and costs of housing with increasing mortgage rate would affect decision of the young couples in home purchase, a series of measures are therefore launched by the government to solve the problems of housing since its inauguration aiming at increasing private and subsidized housing flats as well as land for affordable housing development to cool down the overheating property market. People’s home purchase is greatly affected by the prevailing housing policy found in the survey and their recommendations to the government are to provide more HOS flats, stabilize the house price, increase in amenities and facilities provision in the suburb housing developments and resume Home Assistance Loan Scheme in order to satisfy their housing needs in forming families and planning to child bearing.