Society

China's middle class under great pressure

By Zhang Jiawei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-04-22 11:50

A recent survey showed China's middle-class people are under great pressure and do not feel good about their health: 88.9 percent said they were or will be over fatigued, and 53.3 percent said they were not satisfied with their physical and mental conditions.

The survey, jointly conducted by the Beijing-based Xiaokang Magazine and Tsinghua University, said China's high housing price is swallowing middle-class people's fortune and causing great pressure that overtaxes their body.

Respondents of the survey were civil servants and white-collar workers in the city. They are mainly post 80s, 70s and 60s, with more than 80 percent of them having a monthly income of more than 3,000 yuan ($440).

"If the soaring housing price cannot be curbed effectively, China's middle class may collapse," said Tang Jun, a sociologist with the China Academy of Social Sciences.

About 80 percent of civil servants and white-collar workers said they were under great pressure, and more than 60 percent said their pressure was mainly about buying a house and paying mortgage loans, the survey said.

More than 60 percent of the respondents said they were sacrificing their health for money, with 16.1 percent saying they can accept this deal and 45.4 percent saying they don't want to accept this deal but have no choice, according to the survey.