Almost 70 percent of Chinese people feel rising prices are adversely affecting their living standards, a 10 percent rise since 2008, Beijing News reported Tuesday, citing a survey published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

The survey shows that although nearly 40 percent of respondents complain they can't afford proper housing, 72.3 percent of respondents - in particular rural residents - still feel they live a better life than five years ago.

Among the top ten public gripes, price rises, medical care and the wealth gap are listed as the top three collecting 59.5 percent, 42.9 percent and 31.6 percent of the votes respectively.

The 2011 survey on Chinese people's life sampled 480 villages, 100 counties and five cities in the country's 28 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, and garnered 6,468 responses from urban and rural residents.

Middle class Chinese are more likely than their high-income counterparts to have a happy family and women feel happier in family than men, Beijing Youth Daily reported citing a co-released family happiness report, adding that respondents aged between 30 and 34 feel the happiest among all age groups.