
Conclusions and Enlightenments of the Quality of Life in Chinese City
6.1 Narrowing contrast between subjective and objective indexes,and high regionality
Table 1 lists the five subindexes of the subjective and the objective indexes,along with their changes in 2012-2017.
Index | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | |
Subjective satisfaction index | Subjective index of living standard | 61.34 | 60.44 | 60.07 | 54.32 | 52.51 | 51.28 |
Subjective index of living costs | 38.94 | 39.74 | 38.94 | 31.81 | 31.22 | 28.91 | |
Subjective index of human capital | 61.80 | 62.20 | 61.73 | 58.98 | 58.89 | 59.42 | |
Subjective index of social security | 58.05 | 60.66 | 60.47 | 57.87 | 56.64 | 59.19 | |
Subjective index of living experience |
52.52 | 56.05 | 55.66 | 54.88 | 55.07 | 55.63 | |
Objective index | Objective index of living standard | 52.86 | 50.07 | 59.83 | 68.06 | 63.39 | 56.28 |
Objective index of living cost | 57.17 | 58.74 | 54.58 | 53.84 | 58.67 | 56.10 | |
Objective index of human capital | 56.92 | 56.98 | 57.34 | 57.33 | 57.78 | 57.66 | |
Objective index of social security | 50.49 | 50.43 | 51.26 | 54.66 | 55.26 | 50.85 | |
Objective index of living experience | 57.49 | 57.54 | 56.17 | 55.57 | 53.67 | 51.89 | |
*In 2017,the index is substituted with the subjective index of health conditions. |
Table1 Subjective and Objective Subindexes (2012-2017)
It was found that from 2012 and especially from 2013 to 2016,the subjective subindexes had generally remained stable and slightly improved,while the objective subindexes had dropped significantly. It was therefore concluded that the subjective indexes were in obvious contrast with the objective indexes. According to the 2017 survey results however,such contrast seems to have narrowed. From the perspective of subindexes,except for the new subindexes of health conditions which cannot be compared to the past,and the subjective and objective indexes of living standard which have risen slightly,all the other subjective and objective subindexe has somewhat declined.[1]In 2016,the living standard subjective index was 10.37 higher than the objective index,while in 2017,it is 8.48 higher. In view of such facts,it can be concluded that the contrast between the subjective and the objective indexes still exists,but is narrowing.
In 2017,both the subjective and the objective indexes,as well as their subindexes,have exhibited some regional characteristics. To be specific,in the past,the subjective indexes were high in the east and low in the west. This year however,similar to that of 2016,the indexes of the West continue to improve. Now the subjective index of the West is the highest,followed by the East and then the Centre. As for the objective indexes,same as before,the index of East China is still the highest,and that of the Centre the lowest (See Table 2).
Table2 Subjective and Objective Indexes by Region
Index | Region | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
Subjective Index | East | 54.58 | 55.74 | 55.71 | 51.90 | 51.44 | 51.44 |
Centre | 54.30 | 55.75 | 55.50 | 51.14 | 50.65 | 50.66 | |
West | 55.09 | 55.92 | 54.76 | 51.06 | 50.39 | 50.24 | |
Objective index | East | 56.73 | 56.43 | 56.93 | 59.60 | 59.59 | 57.46 |
Centre | 52.89 | 52.84 | 53.80 | 54.88 | 55.57 | 51.90 | |
West | 53.97 | 53.71 | 54.48 | 55.88 | 55.27 | 52.26 |
Table2 Subject