Social vulnerability in the factor analysis coordinates: a regional assessment

Abstract

The article analyzes features of the social vulnerability of the population in the region. The authors of the research define the concept of “social vulnerability of population” used in the works of Ukrainian and foreign scientists. Using the advantage of the factor analysis method, which enables reducing the number of features, the researchers substantiate new opportunities for calculating the regional index of social vulnerability of the population and identify the vectors of changes in the implementation of the social regional policy in the studied area. The mentioned approach is one of the stages of regional monitoring of the social vulnerability of the population. The comparative analysis of calculations of the integral index of social vulnerability of population is based on five components, namely component 1 “social tension”, component 2 “employment and labor market”, component 3 “income and expenditure”, component 4 “social infrastructure”, and component 5 “education”. The component analysis enables applying 31 indicators instead of 56, and they are easily interpreted. The principal component analysis is applied to make classification of the integrity of original features by some groups of indicators based on the calculations. The distribution of the components in the integral index confirms that financial support for some categories of populations in case of absence or loss of permanent income sources, financial support for the needy groups of the population, and access to the services of social infrastructure have been and will always be the fundamental principle of social protection, and thus, reduction of the level of social vulnerability of population in the region.