The living standard of the rural population of Kazakhstan as a socio-economic category

The study was carried out within the framework of targeted funding of the Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan "Development of the concept and mechanisms of balanced territorial development of the economy and society of Kazakhstan."

Methods - abstract-logical, monographic, graphical, comparative and cluster analysis.

Results - in order to compare the living standards of rural areas of the country's regions, grouping of regions was carried out with justification of such indicators as growth rate of the number of rural residents; the share of the employed and self-employed in the total rural population; villagers' income; proportion of residents whose material well-being is below the subsistence level; share of expenses for food products and paid services. The results of the conducted cluster analysis are presented and groups of regions with similar living conditions, social security and characteristic problems are identified, which makes it possible to determine the main directions of regional policy for improving living standards in the countryside for each of them.

Conclusions - the authors have developed recommendations for the implementation of measures aimed at increasing the level of livelihoods in rural areas that are of interest to regional and local government agencies, labor and social protection authorities in Kazakhstan, preparation of policy documents to improve the socioeconomic situation of rural residents.

1. Poslanie Glavy gosudarstva K.-Zh. Tokaeva narodu Kazahstana «Kazahstan v novoj real'nosti: vremja dejstvij» [Message from the Head of State K.-J. Tokayev to the people of Kazakhstan "Kazakhstan in a new reality: time for action"] (2020). Available at: https://www.akorda.kz/ru/addresses/addresses_of_president/poslanie-glavy-gosudarstva (date of access: 01. 09.2020) [in Russian].

2. Bernard, J. Rural quality of life-poverty, satisfaction and opportunity deprivation in different types of rural territories (2018). Available at: https://doi.org/10.2478/euco-2018-0012 (date of access: 12.06.2021).

3. Watson, P. & Deller, S. Economic diversity, unemployment and the great recession tson (2017). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qref.2016.12.003 (date of access: 16.06.2021).

4. Li, L-H. Balancing Rural and Urban Development: Applying Coordinated Urban-Rural Development (CURD) Strategy to Achieve Sustainable Urbanisation in China (2017). Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/su9111948 (date of access: 17.05.2021).

5. Wojewódzka-Wiewiórska, A. Between the Social and Economic Dimensions of Sustainability in Rural Areas - In Search of Farmers’ Quality of Life (2020). Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/su12010148 (date of access: 19.05.2021).

6. Ballas, D. Happy people or happy places? A multilevel modeling approach to the analysis of happiness and well-being (2011). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0160017611403737 (date of access: 21.05.2021).

7. Sorensen, J.F.L. (2014). Rural-urban differences in life satisfaction: evidence from the European Union. Regional Studies, 48 (9), 1451-1466.

8. Boncinelli, F. & Pagnotta, G. & Riccioli, F. & Casini, L. (2015). The determinants of quality of life in rural areas from a geographic perspective: the case of Tuscany. Review of Urban and Regional Development Studies, 27(2), 104-117.

9. Novikova, A.G. Na razvitie sjol Kazahstana vydelili 2 trln tenge. Pochemu nichego ne menjaetsja i chto delat'? [2 trillion tenge was allocated for the development of villages in Kazakhstan. Why does nothing change and what to do?] (2020). Available at: https://informburo.kz/stati/na-razvitie-syol-kazahstana-vydelili-2-trln-tenge-pochemu-nichego-ne-menyaetsya-ichto-delat.html (date of access: 21.06.2021) [in Russian].

10. Ajdapkelov, N.S. Oficial'naja statisticheskaja informacija. Osnovnye social'no-jekonomicheskie pokazateli. Naselenie. Operativnye dannye [Official statistical information. Basic socio-economic indicators. Population. Realtimedata] (2020). Available at: https://old.stat.gov.kz/faces/wcnav_externalId/homeNumbersPopulation?_afrLoop=11662527898022240#%40%3F_afrLoop%3D11662527898022240%26_adf.ctrl-state%3D10o847lhbq_38 (date of access: 15.04.2021) [in Russian].

11. Ajdapkelov, N.S. Social'no-jekonomicheskoe razvitie Respubliki Kazahstan [Socioeconomic development of the Republic of Kazakhstan] (2020). Available at: http://stat.gov.kz (date of access: 19.05.2021) [in Russian].

12. Ajdapkelov, N.S. Monitoring razvitija sela. Statisticheskij bjulleten'. Regiony. Publikacii [Rural development monitoring. Statistical Bulletin. Regions. Publications] (2020). Available at: http://stat.gov.kz (date of access: 10.04.2021) [in Russian].