Housing Demand and Housing Policy of the Young Sandwich Group in Mainland China—A Survey of Young White-Collar Employees in Shanghai.

In China, the "sandwich group" refers to those people who can neither afford private housing nor are covered by the public housing system. This group plays an important role in economic development and social stability, so the society as a whole will suffer if their housing demand is not met. This paper examines the real housing demand of the sandwich group based on a survey of 600 young white-collar employees in Shanghai conducted in July 2008. The hedonic price method is employed to measure the impact of the key characteristics of housing on housing prices. The distribution of the real housing demand of the Shanghai young sandwich group is then evaluated. This study analyses the gap between their housing demand and affordability. It also discusses policies for solving the housing problem of young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]