According to calculations based on data from the 2021 China Household Finance Survey (CHFS), 19% of Chinese households remain in a state of financial vulnerability. This implies that enroute to achieving common prosperity, China must address not only the vulnerability of rural households to poverty recidivism, but also systematically enhance the financial resilience of ordinary households when confronting critical livelihood pressures—particularly healthcare, education, and housing expenditures. As an institutionalized housing security mechanism in China, the Housing Provident Fund (HPF) system serves as a critical policy instrument for mitigating residential financial burdens and elevating living standards through enhanced housing accessibility. Within this context, understanding the impact of China’s current HPF system on household financial vulnerability has significant practical implications and policy reference value.
Based on data from the 2015-2021 CHFS, this paper empirically examines the impact of the HPF on household financial vulnerability and its transmission mechanism using the Probit model. To address endogeneity concerns in benchmark estimations, this study employs a dual identification strategy. First, time-invariant unobserved heterogeneity is absorbed via two-way fixed effects. Second, community-level HPF participation rates serve as an instrumental variable for household contributions, mitigating simultaneity and omitted-variable biases through plausibly exogenous within-group variation.
Empirical findings document that HPF participation significantly reduces household financial vulnerability. Mechanism analysis shows that the HPF provides lower-cost housing financing options for Chinese households, reduces housing loan repayment pressure, and significantly enhances housing loan repayment capacity, thereby significantly mitigating household financial vulnerability. Housing heterogeneity analysis reveals that the HPF has a stronger mitigating effect on financial vulnerability among homeowners, single-unit property owners, and households with mortgages. Additionally, the HPF significantly alleviates financial vulnerability among households with low human capital, migrant populations, residents in central and western regions, and those below the 40th percentile of per capita income distribution.
Relative to extant literature, this study makes three contributions. First, existing literature contains limited research on the role of the HPF in household financial health. This paper focuses on household financial vulnerability, providing empirical evidence for understanding the relationship between China’s housing security system and household financial conditions. Second, this paper examines the mechanisms through which the HPF affects household financial vulnerability by constructing three indicators: housing financing methods, housing loan repayment pressure, and housing loan repayment capacity, supplementing existing literature. Third, there is little discussion in existing literature about whether the HPF system is inclusive. This paper analyzes the impact of the HPF on financial vulnerability among relatively disadvantaged groups from the perspectives of human capital, migrant populations, regional differences, and income disparities.
This study is expected to provide empirical evidence and decision-making references for relevant government departments to formulate policies for reforming and improving the HPF system, accelerate the pilot process of gig workers’ participation in the HPF system, and help achieve the goals of “Housing for All” and “Common Prosperity” at an early date.
LIUF X. Education and common prosperity: building a high-quality education system to promote common prosperity[J].Educational Research,2022,43(8):149-159.
KANGS L, YUH Y, LIUY F. Housing provident fund, mortgage and households consumption: an empirical study based on CFPS[J]. Journal of Financial Research,2017,60(8):67-82.
ZHOUJ K. Housing provident fund constraints, household types, and housing feature preferences: empirical evidence from China[J].Journal of Financial Research,2011,54(7):70-84.
[15]
TANGM, COULSONN E. The impact of China’s housing provident fund on homeownership, housing consumption and housing investment[J].Regional Science and Urban Economics,2017,63:25-37.
CHENX J, LINH M. Housing provident fund and households’ investment in risky financial assets: evidence from China’s household finance survey of 2013[J].Journal of Financial Research,2021,64(4):92-110.
[20]
XUY. Mandatory savings, credit access and home ownership: the case of the housing provident fund[J].Urban Studies,2017,54(15):3446-3463.
KANGS L, WANGX T, YUH Y. Borrowing constraints and household consumption: from the perspective of the running liquidity of China’s housing provident fund[J].Journal of Financial Research,2022,65(3):115-134.
LIH, ZAHNGX. Does housing provident fund cause inequality: evidence from China household finance survey[J].Economic Theory and Business Management,2020,40(6):99-112.
TANGJ. Does lowering the housing provident fund contribution rate promote employment?[J].China Economic Quarterly,2022,22(3):977-996.
[27]
BRUNETTIM, GIARDAE, TORRICELLIC. Is financial fragility a matter of illiquidity? An appraisal for Italian households[J].Review of Income and Wealth,2016, 62(4):628-649.
[28]
AMPUDIAM, VAN VLOKHOVENH, ŻOCHOWSKID. Financial fragility of Euro area households[J].Journal of Financial Stability,2016,27:250-262.
YINZ C, LIQ W, ZHANGC. Financial knowledge with household financial vulnerability: an empirical study based on Chinese household finance survey data[J].Research on Financial and Economic Issues,2023,45(2):39-49.
SHENB Q, GUOZ X. Does the new rural pension program improve the vulnerability of low-income households in rural China?[J].Chinese Rural Economy,2018,34(1):90-107.
YUANC, YUX. An evaluation of the effect of multi-level medical security system on reducing Chinese household financial vulnerability[J].Journal of Southeast University (Philosophy and Social Science),2022,24(3):51-60.
MENGX C. Housing price fluctuations, household debt risk, and wealth distribution: a discussion on housing property tax and housing subsidy reform[J].Modern Economic Science,2025,47(1):17-29.
[37]
祝伟,夏瑜擎.中国居民家庭消费性负债行为研究[J].财经研究,2018,44(10):67-81.
[38]
ZHUW, XIAY Q. An analysis on household consumption-fueled borrowing in China[J]. Journal of Finance and Economics, 2018,44(10):67-81.
PANM, LIUZ Q. Does “adding leverage” stimulate household consumption? Evidence from Chinese household survey[J].Journal of Financial Research,2018,61(4):71-87.
LID, HEC Y, MAS, et al. The “spindle” effect of guarantee function of the housing provident fund system:an empirical study based on CHFS data[J].Journal of Finance and Economics,2020,46(11):108-122.