Life Satisfaction in China 2013: A Survey Study in Two Main Chinese Cities

Abstract

The Chinese economic growth rate has been much higher than many countries of the world for many years now. Nowadays, China is experiencing significant economic transformation and structural adjustment. Its speed of development is slowing, and housing and commodity prices are slowly rising. Consequently, a series of economic and social problems have come into being. Under these circumstances, how satisfied are Chinese people on the seven aspects of daily living such as Housing Situation, Household Income, Health, Family Life, Food, Human Relations and Job? The Media and Public Opinion Research Center of Fudan University (FMORC) conducted a phone survey of 606 people living in Beijing, the capital and political and cultural center of China, and Shanghai, the Chinese economic center. The survey results show that the overall satisfaction of Chinese people with their daily life is high. The levels of Family Life and Human Relations are on the top, those of Food, Health and Jobs are listed from the third to the fifth, and satisfaction levels of their Housing Situation and Household Income are on the bottom. The satisfaction levels of males with their Family Life and Health are higher than those of females. Age has a significantly negative correlation with satisfaction with personal health. Monthly income has positive relationships with four aspects of daily life -house income, job, house situation, and family life. Owning a house in cities is another important factor that influences satisfaction with the house situation, house income, food, and family life. Shanghai residents also show higher satisfaction with their health than Beijing residents. and per capita disposable income is also increasing, it is an indisputable fact that GDP increases more slowly than CPI. In 2013, consumer prices rose by 2.6% over the previous year. Respectively, food prices rose 4.7% over the previous year, clothing prices rose 2.3%. Coupled with rising housing prices and high house price-income ratio, it is very difficult for the general public to buy real estate. Thus, it is understandable that people evaluated the household income with the lowest degree of satisfaction.