Розвиток соціальної сфери українського села: регіональний аспект

Abstract

The research paper aims to highlight the specific characteristics of social development in rural areas and identify new job opportunities for village residents. These include diversifying agricultural production and expanding into other sectors of the regional economy. The focus is on encouraging self-employment, entrepreneurship, and employment in small towns and villages for the rural population, offering a promising future for these areas. Research methodology. In this article, we utilized the abstract-logical method to identify the theoretical foundations of the social sphere development in rural areas and agrarian formations of different scales. We also employed the monographic approach to examine the perspectives of various experts on the issues relating to the development of the social sphere in rural areas and the significance of management forms, particularly family farms, in promoting employment and self-employment among rural residents. Additionally, we used analysis and synthesis to evaluate the effectiveness of management forms in rural areas. The current state of development of the national agricultural sector of Ukraine emphasizes the importance of the social sphere of rural areas and the contribution of small forms of management, which in the domestic legal field, scientific and statistical literature are defined such as individual peasant and farm households, small rural enterprises, and households. Ensuring the development of small forms of business in the system of rural formations is an essential component of the effective functioning of the domestic agrarian sector as a component of the national economic system. In turn, this determines the need to analyze the features of the use of the available resource potential, as well as the results of the economic activity of the representatives of this group of farmers. However, intensive agricultural technologies have led to unemployment in many villages, leading to the degradation of rural areas, worsening demographic situations, and reduced life expectancy. Elements of scientific novelty. The author has developed various approaches to assessing social efficiency, which include several methodological features: 1. Social efficiency should be determined at two levels: local (at a specific enterprise, as the degree of satisfaction of its employees’ social needs) and regional/national (as the degree of social protection and equal provision of social needs for different population segments by local bodies and the state as a whole). 2. It is crucial to determine the absolute scale and relative level of satisfaction of various social needs of employees at a particular enterprise, whether through its resources, the region’s population, or the state. 3. When assessing social effectiveness, various socially important measures funded by local and national budgets must also be considered. 4. The precise determination of social efficiency should involve quantitative measurement and assessment of the effect and costs of a complete set of measures, including those for which quantitative measurement of the effect is impossible. Based on the research results, it is obtained that the social sphere of the region’s villages is diverse, with small-scale farms playing a crucial role in ensuring food safety and reducing unemployment in rural areas. The research confirms that in the long term, a dual approach is necessary for addressing this issue: firstly, a consistent focus on market relations to ensure the competitiveness of products from all types of enterprises — small, medium, and large; and secondly, the improvement of quality of life and the development of social infrastructure in rural areas to sustain them as the foundation for livelihoods and employment for the rural population, engaging all stakeholders in finding solutions. Keywords: development, agriculture, demographic processes, social sphere, livelihood, territorial environment, labor, environment, social efficiency, food security, self-realization.