By Zhang Junkuo, Ye Xingqing, Ge Yanfeng, Jin Sanlin & Zhu Xianqiang, Research Team on “Survey on People’s Livelihood in China”, DRC

Research Report, No.179, 2020 (Total 5923) 2020-7-13

Abstract: The survey findings on people’s livelihood in China made in 2019 show that urban and rural residents feel a heightened sense of gains respectively in the following fields: food safety, government services, education, medical care and employment. At the same time, residents are more concerned about income, medical care, education, elderly care and transportation and they are less satisfied with the government work in these fields and strongly hope to see further improvement by the government. According to the analysis results of livelihood index (objective), people’s livelihood is on the rise across the board, but results show wide differences in various fields. Improvements on people’s livelihood and living environment are significantly higher than those on public services and public security. In the future, due to the impact of COVID-19 on people’s livelihood, multiple measures need to be taken to ensure people’s basic income, medical care, education, transportation and relevant aspects that people are concerned about. In addition, efforts need to focus on the role played by social assistance policies in terms of emergency relief, further enhance the accessibility of public services for both urban and rural residents, and ensure the quality of a well-off society in an all-round way.

Keywords: people’s satisfaction with livelihood, people’s concern, livelihood index