The poster entitled her thread 'post-1980 generation's marriages are doomed to fail because of housing'. The 26 year old woman says she married her husband, who is one year older than her and moved into a rented apartment. But seeing colleagues around them driving cars back to their own homes after work, the young couple started to long for a place that belonged to them. But their wallet seemed too thin to afford one. After frequent house–related arguments, they end up divorcing. This online story provoked hot discussions. Nannan was one of the readers.

"I think the prospect of ownership of a house is a basic pre-condition to marriage. Without a house, you just can't get married. Having the goal of renting a place after marriage is not an option as far as I'm concerned."

An online poll shows that more than 70% of the post-1980 generation don't have their own houses. And 74% of the voters admit post-1980 generation people around them usually have arguments due to housing problems.

In order to avoid such problems, many post-1980 generation people choose to postpone their marriage till they actually own a house. 26 years old Manna has been with her boyfriend for more than 3 years, but they are still waiting for her boyfriend's affordable housing application to be granted before getting married. She thinks the post-1980s generation is facing special social pressure, such as employment and fragile relationships. A house is a basic guarantee of life for this generation.

"For older generations, a home does not have the same meaning as what we are talking about now. For example, the previous generation didn't have to worry about houses that much. Either their parents handed it down to them, or their Danwei provided the house for them. But now housing is an item with a totally outrageous price, giving us pressure all the time. We don't have any choices."

Housing pressures mostly reside on the male's shoulders, as traditionally the male is the one to provide the female a place to live. The online poll shows, two third believe it needs both sides to support a property. One out of every five think it is an issue the male partner needs to worry about. 12% think it doesn't matter who buys the house as long as they love each other. But only 0.3% people think it's the woman's responsibility to buy a place. Some also argue that today's youth, women in particular, are too material wealth driven, and seem mercenary. Wen Ju is almost 30 years old. He has been set up on blind dates with many girls, however, he found himself stuck with the word 'House'.

"People have different opinions, and different values. Boys are in a passive position when asked about houses. Many girls regard the house as very important. They would quit dating you when they find out you can't afford a house."

Wen Ju's dream is to find one who would love him no matter whether he owns a home or not. But at the same time, he is also working hard to save money for a place. In this big metropolis, he admits that sometimes he doubts whether there exists such a thing of true love when it comes to the practical question of a 'house'.