SOCIAL POLICY OF UNITED TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES AS A MEANS OF REPRODUCING HUMAN CAPITAL IN RURAL AREAS

Abstract

Introduction. The most important task of the current stage of the country's social and economic development is the formation of a goal-oriented social policy aimed at the interests of citizens, aimed at creating conditions that ensure a sufficient level of quality of life and free human development, reducing social inequality, increasing the income of the population, ensuring the general availability and acceptable quality of basic social services. In essence, it is about solving a strategic problem – improving the quality of life of the country's population, which is especially relevant for residents of rural areas, since the solution to the problems of stable economic development and improvement of the population's well-being in Ukraine is largely determined by the development of rural areas. Methods. General scientific and special methods of economic research were used in the process of conducting research, in particular: systemic approach − when studying the connections between phenomena and processes in the system of ensuring the reproduction of human capital in rural areas; statistical analysis − when determining the tendency of reproduction of the country's rural population; comparative − to compare the social and economic conditions of reproduction of human capital in rural areas; dialectical, abstract and logical − for theoretical generalizations and the formation of conclusions. Results. The directions for improving the conditions for the formation and development of human capital in rural areas in a strategic perspective are substantiated: improvement of the living environment of the rural population; ensuring demographic growth in rural areas; improving the quality of educational services in the countryside; receiving timely and high-quality medical care; ensuring a high level of wages; integration of the rural population into the knowledge-based economy. The strategic development of rural areas and rural society should be based on the preservation of traditional culture and its reproduction, preservation of national origins and religious traditions, which ensure social, professional and cultural self-identification of individuals in the conditions of decentralization of rural communities. Discussion. The proposed measures can be used in the development of strategies for the social and economic development of rural united territorial communities in the context of the decentralization process. In the conditions of the post-war revival of Ukraine, the role of united territorial communities in the revival of the settlement network and stimulation of the return of the population through the restoration of social infrastructure facilities and the creation of additional jobs, in particular through self-employment, will be strengthened, which is promising for our further research. Keywords: human capital, social policy, decentralization, united territorial community, social infrastructure.