Beijing happiness decreasing

Beijing residents are less happy than they were last year, with unsatisfactory income, polluted air, unsafe food, bad traffic and failing social trust, according to the Beijing Social and Economic Life Index report.

The report, released by the Capital University of Economics and Business on Monday, includes eight categories such as residents' happiness and feelings about public services.

The happiness index of urban residents in Beijing this year is 72.28 and has been decreasing for four consecutive years since 2008, according to the report. People are not happy about their income, which is the major reason for the index dropping, the report said.

The average annual salary for people in Beijing was 50,415 yuan ($7,979) in 2010, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics. It was expected to reach at least 53,944 yuan last year as stated in the municipal government work report for 2011.

"Beijing residents can't be living a happy life, not with the income gap and inflation growing," Zhou Xiaozheng, a professor of sociology at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times Tuesday.

Many millionaires and billionaires have emerged, but there are a lot more people suffering with small incomes, especially the migrant workers, Zhou said.

"I am tired of living in Beijing, especially after my baby was born," local resident He Hui told the Global Times. "The traffic's pretty bad and I feel like I'm living in a chimney with the deteriorating air quality."

Air quality remains one of the top concerns of Beijing residents, with the report's lowest environment index results score of 63.3.

Although the number of recorded official "blue sky days" is increasing, massive debate over the PM2.5 air quality readings have people more concerned and unhappy about the city's environment.

Food safety scandals make people feel even more unsafe, with some 57.5 percent of survey respondents listing unsafe food as the leading contributor to their feeling of insecurity. The number has increased more than 10 percent since the melamine-contaminated milk powder scandal in 2008.

The moral decay of corporations, lax government supervision and food safety standards are reasons for frequent scandals, the report said.

Both air quality and food safety concerns reflect distrust among Beijing residents, Zhou noted. "Environmental protection authorities didn't release the PM2.5 data, and they lied about the air quality while we could all see it worsening," he said.

"Those living in Beijing are definitely less happy than those in second-tier cities, where the air and traffic is better and it's less stressful," said He. "The local government should work on their credibility, and more things that directly benefit residents rather than just those that improve their own image," he said.