The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) released its Blue Book of China's Society 2011 on Wednesday, saying that the overall life satisfaction of China's population declined this year, and the most significant decline is seen among residents of small towns.

The Blue Book analyzes the impact of this year's major events and issues on China's social development, and it predicted trends of social development for next year, as well as the major problems that the country will face. According to the book, the negative effects of the financial crisis on the lives of the country's residents have slowly appeared this year. Statistics show that the overall life satisfaction of residents in cities, small towns and rural areas declined up to six percent compared with last year.

The book listed several factors that led to the overall decrease in satisfaction. The satisfaction levels regarding employment opportunities for both urban and rural residents, social insurance and leisure entertainment have dropped to their lowest point since 2006.

But the level of satisfaction with one's personal financial situation remains stable. The tolerance for price fluctuations among urban and rural residents has decreased,and as there are various categories of consumers, it is difficult to measure their levels of confidence.

In addition, urban residents are confident about their future income and living standards, but they are now more worried about their pensions. Rural residents lack confidence in the possibility of revenue growth and improvements in their quality of life - and their "disappointment rate" was even lower than for urban residents.

The financial situation of an individual is - for three consecutive years - the main factor that impacts life satisfaction. And, for the first time, employment status has become an indicator for rural residents' sense of satisfaction with their life.

Li Peilin, director of Sociology Research Institute of CASS, said that the process of urbanization has affected the issue of the rural employment structure . "We should pay attention to the impact of the massive urbanization process on farmers." Li said

Dong Liming, a professor at the College of Urban and Environmental Sciences at Peking University, told the Global Times that, during the process of urbanization, a big obstacle concerns rural migrant workers who work in the cities and have difficulties in obtaining an urban hukou.

"The urbanization of rural residents does not only relate to the more straightforward problem of changing their hukou, but also concerns ensuring employment and ownership of a home in the city. These steps would all ensure that they can achieve the same level of social insurance, medical treatment and education as urban residents." said Dong.