Supervisor: Dr Ying Jin
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Research Overview:
Young graduates, who are aged between 25-34 and have obtained at least a college degree, are playing an increasingly significant role in the economy and society of metropolitan areas. However, their housing choices are increasingly constrained due to rising housing costs in metropolitan areas. Surprisingly, existing literature focusing on the housing costs and affordability overlooks the housing issues of this particular group. Their presumed higher earnings relative to non-graduates make them generally ineligible for social housing. Under the rising housing costs, they reduce their housing consumption to cover their expenses, ask for help from their parents and relatives and stay at home for longer. These mundane facts of today’s metropolitan life could have large negative effects on productivity and social mobility. This thesis investigates how young graduates make housing choices when housing affordability is getting worse. In particular, this thesis examines the impact of house prices and rental costs on the decision of leaving their parental homes, housing tenure choice, household formation, and residential location choice through statistical modelling that controls for complex socio-economic, familial and personal circumstances.
Biography:
Yusi Luo is a 3rd year PhD student at the University of Cambridge. Her PhD study is funded by Cambridge Trust and Chinese Scholarship Council. She is interested in housing, inter-urban migration, and weighting adjustment in longitudinal surveys. Her current research focuses on the housing pathway of young graduates using longitudinal data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS). She corrects the sample selection bias in the UKHLS.