Table 5 Measures and description of future residential preference and its influencing factors.

Dependent variable

 Future residential preference

FRP

Ancestral house = 1, current rural house = 2, children’s house in the village = 3, children’s house in the city = 4, elderly care facility = 5

2.60

1.24

Independent variables

 Family life cycle

FLC

Initial households = 1, burden stage = 2, stabilized households = 3, maintenance-stage households = 4, empty-nesting households = 5

–

–

 Personal characteristic of household head

  Household head Age

HHA

Years

51.44

13.51

  Health

HEAL

Very poor or poor = 1, fair = 2, good = 3, very good = 4

2.30

0.96

  Education

EDU

Years

7.68

3.55

 Family characteristics

  Household annual income

HAI

Unit: 1000 USD

11.08

20.96

  Degree of household economic growth (latest 5 years)

DEG

Rapid or slow decrease = 1, constant = 2, slow growth = 3, rapid growth

–

–

  Living pattern

LP

Solitary = 1, couples living together = 2, two generations living together = 3, three generations live together = 4

–

–

  Number of children

NC

–

2.15

0.79

 Endowment of resources

  Village location

VL

Distance to county center: 1–10 km = 1; 11–20 km = 2; 21 km -30 km = 3; 30km-40km = 4

2.55

0.92

  Number of homesteads owned

NH

–

1.37

0.92

  Acres of land owned

AL

–

5.92

9.18