Compromise in Love and Home(1)

From Property, page 38, issue no. 341, November 12, 2007
Translated by Zuo Maohong
Original article: [Chinese]

It never occurred to Li Wei (a pseudonym) that an apartment would come between her and the man she loved. "A man who completely obeys his parents just can't bring his wife a bright future," she says, still fuming over the breakup.

To prepare for the marriage of Sun Da (a pseudonym) and his fiancée, Sun's parents spent every penny they had saved to buy them a big apartment. As members of the post-1980 generation, Sun and Li make very little, and thus could contribute only partially to their future home.

As a result, they also relinquished the right to control their lifestyle. Among most families today, home ownership has become a decisive factor in family authority. Now, purchasing a house means more than a signature.

According to statistics from Homelink, a housing agency, 30 percent of its home purchasers were born after 1980. That figure is 20 percent for 5I5J, another housing agency. With humble savings, the post-1980 generation, backed by their parents, boldly joined in the rush for homes at a time of inflation spikes. "A typical scene of young people buying their homes involves the young couple being followed by two old men and two old women. In effect, six salary earners from three families will be paying for that home," says Professor Sun Liping of Tsinghua University.

Bound to the Parents

Sun Da and Li Wei, both from a city in the south, once worked in Beijing. The two decided to settle down in their hometown later as the living cost in Beijing was beyond their means.

In early 2005, Sun's parents sold the apartment they had originally lived in, and bought a bigger one at 130 square meters with the 300,000 yuan they made from the sale combined with their life savings.

Financially supported by the old couple, the young somehow lost their rights to choose their own future way of life.

Every detail from selecting to decoration was controlled by Sun's parents, without the consultation of the children. Before Sun and Li had even left Beijing, the new house was bought, decorated, and being lived in.

Li, like most people at her age, didn't want to live with either her parents or parents-in-law after marriage for fear of the two generation's different lifestyles. But with all of their money spent already, everything was set in stone.