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Happinessindexfallsonhousingcosts

ShanghaiDaily   Jan21,2010

RESIDENTSonChina'smainlandweremorewillingtospendmoneyinthefourthquarteroflastyearinanticipationofapositiveeconomicoutlook,butsurginghousingpricescooledtheirenthusiasmtobuyhomes,saidaquarterlysurveyreleasedyesterday.

Theconsumerexpectationindexgained5.4pointsfromthethirdquarterto108pointsinthefourth,thecurrenteconomicconditionindexadded6.5pointsto89pointsandtheconsumersentimentindexrose2pointsto99points,theAntaiCollegeofEconomics&ManagementunderShanghaiJiaoTongUniversitysaidinthesurvey.

Therisingindicesindicatedthatconsumersareoptimisticthefinancialcrisiswasendingandtheyareconfidentintheeconomictrend,saidWangFanghua,directorofthecollege.

However,theindexmeasuringresidents'happinessfell15pointsto124inthefinalthreemonthslargelybecauseofhousingpricesandconcernoverjobs.

Respondentsagedbetween18and24feltlesshappythanothersasmanyofthemhavejustgraduatedfromschoolsandwerelookingforjobs,thesurvey,covering2,000respondents,said.

Theindexmeasuringresidents'willingnesstobuyhomesfell34.5pointsto57.22duetorocketingprices.

China'surbanhousingpricesin70majorcitiesrose7.8percentinDecember,themostin18monthsandtheseventhconsecutivegainsinceJuneamidasupplyshortageandgrowingspeculation.

ThehappinessindexofpeopleinJiangsu,Sichuan,FujianprovincesandChongqingmunicipalitywasfoundtobehigh,withhalfoffamiliessayingtheyweresatisfiedwithfamilylife,whilepeoplelivinginbigcitieslikeBeijing,ShanghaiandShenzhenwerenotsolucky.

调查发现，江苏、四川、福建和重庆四个省市居民的幸福感指数较高，有一半的家庭表示他们对家庭生活感到满意，而住在北京、上海、深圳等大城市的人却不这么认为。

在上面的报道中，happinessindex就是现在很受关注的“幸福感指数”。

幸福感指数是衡量幸福感具体程度的主观指标数值。

幸福感受到各种因素的影响——economicfactors（经济因素）、populationfactor（人口因素）、culturalfactor（文化因素）、psychologicalfactor（心理因素）和politicalfactor（政治因素）等。

现在五花八门的指数特别多，幸福感指数也和其中一些指数息息相关。

例如：

consumerpriceindex（CPI居民消费价格指数），employmentindex（就业指数）或netemploymentoutlook（净就业前景指数），lifesatisfactionindex（生活满意度指数）等。

AllfortheHappinessIndex,SayYay

（1）

ByZouXiaoming

TEXT:

  small  |  medium  |  large

Published:

2007-02-07

TheChinesemediahasbeeninafrenzythispastyearovertheuseofgrossdomesticproductasanindexforjudgingregionaldevelopment.Thisisduetowidespreadsuspicionthat,asthesayinggoes, 'officialsmakethenumbersandthenumbersmaketheofficials'.Evidenceofthiscanbefound inthe disparitybetweenthegrossdomesticproductfiguresreleasedbytheprovincesandthosereleasedbytheNationalMinistryofStatistics. 

Whileitisimpossibletotellwhichismoreaccurate,onethingisforcertain:

GDPcannotbeusedtomeasuretheachievementsofofficials.Sowhatcanbeusedinstead?

Thisisn’tjustaproblemlinkedtothepromotionofgovernmentofficials,itslinkedtothedevelopmentofaflourishingsocietyaswell.Thisiswherethe'HappinessIndex'comesintoplay.     

AlthoughChina’sGinicoefficient（ameasureofincomeinequality）hasbeenincreasingrecently,itispullingdowntheworld’sGinicoefficient.ThequantityandspeedwithwhichChinahaslifteditscitizensoutofpovertyhasgarneredinternationalpraise.Theseachievementsarearesultofmassiveimprovementstoourtechnologyandproductivity.     

InordertounderstandtheHappinessIndexonemustfirstunderstanditsformula.Nobel-prize-winningeconomistPaulSamuelsonexplains,“Happinessequalssatisfactiondividedbydesire”.Thissuggestsadirectrelationshipbetweenhappinessandcontentmentandaninverserelationshipbetweenhappinessanddesire. 

Ourtraditionalcultureoftentimesimplicitlyacceptsthis;weareencouragedtoreduceourdesires,andasaresult,feelhappier.Buteconomistshavestressedtheincreasingofcontentmentinstead.Thelinkbetweenthissecondapproachandimprovementsinproductivityandtechnologyisstrong.   

Theproblemisthatdespitetheaforementionedimprovements,duetounemployment,limitedresources,andunfairopportunity,peoplewillstillnotgetinincomewhattheircapabilitymerits.Thosewhocannotimprovetheirlevelofproductivityortechnologywillcontinuetohavealowincomeandalowconsumptioncapacity,andthusmorelikelytofeelleftoutoftheeconomic-growthloop.Thiscanonlyleadthemtodisappointmentanddespair,andwhenofficialsciteGDPgrowth,thesesamepeoplewillfeelthatithasverylittletodowiththem. 

Thegovernment'sresponsibilityisnotjusttoincreaseGDP,butalsotocoordinatedevelopment.GDPgrowthistheresultofseveraleconomicfactorsandisnotjusttheproductofpolicysuccess.Onlyincalculationdoesitbecomeatool,especiallywhenitisusedasarubricformeasuringthesuccessofcertainofficials.Thisdoesn’tjustembarrassthecentralgovernmentaswellastheprovincialleaders,butcanresultinseriousinfringementsofcivilrights.Corruptionandcommunicationproblemsbetweenruralareasandurbancentersaresignsofthis.Worsestill,thecentralgovernmentispowerlesstodealwiththeseissues. 

ButtheHappinessIndexitselfcanitselfbecomeatoolexploitedbyofficialsinthesamewayGDPhas.PreventingthisisevenmoreimportantthandesigningtheHappinessIndexitself.Intheeconomy,currencyistheballot.Everyconsumerchoosesgoodsandservicesaccordingtotheirownwill,andasaresultbusinesseswillstrivetoprovidethebesttheycantowinthemover.Politicsaredesignedthiswayaswell.Eachcitizenshouldselectthemostsuitablecandidate,essentiallycreatingacontract.Thecitizenspromisetopaytaxes,theofficialpromisestobefair.     

Thecruxofthehappinessformulaistheneedtoincreasecontentment.Thisincludescontentmentwithbothpersonalandpublicgoodsandservices.Duetolimitedfunds,thepoorarerestrainedintheirconsumptionofprivategoods.Buttheyshouldusetheirpowerascitizenstovoteforpublicgoodsandservices,henceincreasingthehappinessofthemselvesandothers.     

Thus,thecriticalpartoftheevaluationstandardisthesubjectbeingevaluated.Iffromthestartademocraticprocesswithcloseinvolvementbycitizenswasusedtorunstudiesonpolicy,whatpeoplearedenouncingasskin-deepeconomicandpoliticalsuccesseswouldnotbesoseriousorpervasivetoday.Withenoughrespectandleeway,citizensthemselvescanensurethattaxesandgovernmentexpendituresarerational. 

WhatshouldthefutureHappinessIndexmeasure?

Howcanitbemademorescientific?

Thesekindsofquestionsmustnotbedismissedasjustscholarlypursuits,fortheyareindeedamatterofcivilrights.Wemustforceofficialstorealizethatthepowerisinourhands,andthatwedonotneedtorelyonpersonalgoodsandservicesforhappiness.Everyone,poorornot,shouldbeabletosharethebenefitsofbeingamemberofsocietyandenjoythehappinessthatitbrings.

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Happinesshardertoachieveinbigcities

ByZhangJiawei（）

Updated:

2010-03-1717:

36

ThehappinessindexofpeopleinJiangsu,Sichuan,FujianprovincesandChongqingmunicipalitywasfoundtobehigh,withhalfoffamiliessayingtheyweresatisfiedwithfamilylife,whilepeoplelivinginbigcitieslikeBeijing,ShanghaiandShenzhenwerenotsolucky.

Accordingtoasurveyconductedin10Chinesecitiesonthehappinessofmiddleincomefamilieswithannualincomesofmorethan50,000yuan（$7,325）,thehappinessindexinsmallercitieswasmuchhigherthaninbigcities.

Intermsofincome,thesurveyshowedfamilieswithannualincomesofbetween11,000and20,000yuanwerehappiest.Peopleagedbetween30and35werehappiest,accordingtothesurvey.

Thepinchofhighhousingprices,fierceofficecompetition,trafficcongestionandhighcostofkids'educationwerethemaincausesofthelowhappinessindexinbigcitieslikeShenzhen,theGuangzhouDailyreportedWednesday.

Survivaltipsforasatisfactorylife

WhenIrecentlyglancedatsomestatisticspointingoutthatemployeesinShanghaiwereamongtherichestsuchgroupinthecountry,myfirstreactionwasoneofcompletesurprise.

TheNationalBureauofStatisticshaslistedusShanghaineseatthetop,withyearlyaverageincomesof63,549yuan,evenasthecountry'saverageisonlyhalfthisnumber.

Itmayverywellbetrue,butwhatthereportdoesnotincludearetwootherkeyfigures-thecostoflivingandthehappinessindex.

AccordingtotheECAInternationalSurveyonCostofLiving,Shanghaiisthemostexpensivecityinthemainland,followedbyBeijingandGuangzhou.

What'sworse,inareportanalyzingthehappinessindexofmiddle-classfamiliesinChinathatwasreleasedinMarch,ShanghaiandBeijingcamerightatthebottomamongthe35citiessurveyed.

Whatisthereason?

Anyonewithsomeunderstandingofmodernsocietywillknow-unaffordablehousingprices,hugeworkpressureandcompetition,trafficcongestionandhighcostofeducatingchildren.

Thereporthasarrivedatthesameconclusion.

Ifyouthinkthesereportsaretoodry,I,aShanghaiwomaninherearly'30swhohasbeenbracketedintothe"richgroup"willarriveatadetailedpictureoflifeinthemetropolis.Afterthat,youcandrawyourconclusions.

Mytypicalworkingdaystartswithastruggleinthemetrotrain.SinceIworkintheCBDareaandcan'taffordtolivecloseby,Ineedtochangetwometrolines,thetwobusiestinShanghai.

Themetrosystemisfullofunpleasantsurpriseseveryday.Delaysandinadequateair-conditioningareoftennottheworstproblems;theworstiswhenyou