Sejong City Social Survey "Happiness Stagnant, Worries Increasing"

[Asia Economy (Sejong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Last year, the happiness felt by Sejong citizens in their daily lives remained at the same level as the previous year (6.6 points on a 10-point scale), while worries increased from 4.2 points the previous year to 4.6 points, according to a survey. The overall satisfaction felt by citizens in their daily lives also remained the same at 6.3 points.

Sejong City announced the results of the "2021 Sejong City Social Survey" on the 3rd. The social survey was conducted in the second half of last year targeting 3,248 household members aged 13 and older from 1,800 sample households to understand changes in citizens' lives, satisfaction, and perceptions of quality of life.

The main survey contents covered 70 items in seven areas: ▲individual ▲labor ▲income and consumption ▲education ▲housing and transportation ▲culture and leisure ▲happy city.

First, the average monthly household income in the social survey was distributed mainly in the ranges of ▲3 million to less than 4 million KRW (18.1%) ▲2 million to less than 3 million KRW (15.1%) ▲4 million to less than 5 million KRW (14.3%) ▲5 million to less than 6 million KRW (11.1%).

The average monthly consumption expenditure was distributed mainly between 2 million to less than 3 million KRW (26.0%) and 1 million to less than 2 million KRW (22.6%). Households with debt accounted for 60.1% of the total, with housing rent and purchase reasons accounting for an overwhelming 75.1% of the debt reasons.

In 2021, the average monthly public education cost was 86,000 KRW, and private education cost was 351,000 KRW. The representative burden factor for education expenses was supplementary education fees (77.3%), and citizens hoped for improvements in the educational environment such as the establishment of libraries (22.1%) and education-related counseling centers (20.6%).

In the transportation usage satisfaction survey, 27.7% of citizens responded that they use the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), and among them, 52.2% expressed satisfaction. Bicycles, used by 24.8% of citizens, showed a satisfaction rate of 57.6%.

On the other hand, taxi users accounted for 20.6% of all citizens, which is less than BRT users, and among them, 54.4% expressed dissatisfaction with taxi use, exceeding half of the respondents.

The reasons for dissatisfaction with taxi use included "lack of taxis (70.5%)," "expensive fares (17.0%)," and "driver's unfriendliness and reckless driving (5.2%)."

In the satisfaction survey regarding Sejong city administration, 74.5% of respondents gave positive responses with "satisfied (17.4%)" and "average (57.1%)." The most satisfying area was health and welfare (29.5%), followed by general administration (28.1%), safety (24%), and culture, arts, and sports (7.8%).

In particular, regarding the future outlook of Sejong city administration, citizens responded with "will do better than now 49%" and "will be similar to now 38.8%."

Choi Pil-soon, head of the Information and Statistics Division of the city, said, "The social survey results will be used as basic data to analyze the social status of Sejong and predict changes," adding, "The city will continue to actively reflect citizens' opinions in major policies to improve the quality of life of citizens."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.