Мацкевич Н.А.
Научный руководитель: Лавлинский Р.А.
Донецкий национальный университет экономики
и торговки
имени Михаила Туган-Барановского
MIDDLE CLASS IN UKRAINE
The middle class is, by
a general recognition, a social base of market economy and political democracy.
"Middle class" – concept washed away enough. In the developed
democratic countries to this class it is considered to be the basic criterion
of an accessory of the person the certain income received from legal sources
and providing a worthy standard of living. When representatives of middle class
are the majority, the state has necessary preconditions for stable development
in the conditions of market economy and political democracy.
Traditional definition of middle class is the
following: a middle class – is a class which is an intermediate one between the
basic classes in the system of social Stratification; it is characterized by
heterogeneity of position, discrepancy of interests, consciousness and
political, behavior.
The middle class
structure was formed in some stages:
«Old middle class» which
history of formation begins from the middle of XIX century. It was presented by
small businessmen, dealers, owners of shops, handicraftsmen, small and average
peasantry. These people almost equally depend on their property and on their
work.
«The new middle class» - started to be formed
from the middle of the XX-th century in connection with transition to a
posteconomic period. The reasons of its formation consist in cardinal changes
of system of public division of labor owing to scientific and technical
progress, in expansion of sphere of services, etc. This class represents two
big categories of hired employees: experts (programmers, doctors, economists)
and managers (managers and managing directors). Resources of the power of this
type are connected not with the classical property, but with intellectual and
professional work [1, 210].
There are two approaches
to middle class definition: subjective and objective (they are often combined).
The subjective approach considers the opinion of respondents: to what step of
social hierarchy they refer themselves. The objective approach operates with
the signs which are not dependent on opinion of the individual. Since in
Ukraine there are different approaches to middle class definition (Set forth
above) also results of the size and qualitative structure are various [2, 1].
In Ukraine process of
formation of middle class which would correspond the property status and level
of personal incomes to criteria of the developed countries, is at the initial
stage.
It is explained by low
standard of living of the population. Besides, a considerable quantity of
people which come nearer to the middle class status, receive a considerable
part of incomes without registration and payment of taxes. It causes certain
discrepancy of their relations with the state, and, hence, difficulties on a
way of realization of the public function – to be a basis of sociopolitical
stability. It proved by public opinion which identifies activity of owners of
small enterprises with regular infringement of the legislation: 61,3 % of
citizens are convinced that small and average business in Ukraine develops
mainly in shadow sphere. According to the overwhelming majority of people who
were questioned said that the reason of it was corruption.
However, despite
political or ideological obstacles in Ukraine though and slowly, but the market
economy, and, hence, its base subject – middle class are developing. Middle
class identification simultaneously on the average level of incomes, higher
education and the high social status by estimations of leading sociologists now
makes 12-15 % [3, 2-3].
Realities and middle
class prospects in Ukraine:
- The middle class in structure
of the Ukrainian society according to
the social status is a young, educated, professionally successful, mobile part
of economically active population of Ukraine well adapting for market
conditions which live mainly in big cities;
- Middle class is
non-uniform on professional structure: it is first of all small and average
businessmen, managers;
- Under the material
status the middle class should have the income from 150 to 1000 dollars a month
for each member of a family and rather high enough level of material
maintenance.
- Representatives of
middle class have positive self-perception – they are pleased with their work,
the social status, life as a whole;
- According to
psychological structure they are active, initiative, they specify readiness for
professional, territorial, educational mobility, are inclined to changes and
risk;
- The middle
class carries the
chain-specific functions, primarily the function
of playing a highly skilled workforce, different forms of
entrepreneurial activity, as well as the function of
"social innovation" that ensures the distribution
of creative life [1, 239-240].
For today the described
above class has high professional-educational potential, more or less effective
strategy of economic behavior, positive social state, but because of its small
number, political instability, notification of its interests and registration
of social-group identity this class isn't a meaning public and economic force.
Literature
1.
Symonchuk O.V. The
middle class in the social structure of
Ukrainian society / O.V.Symonchuk /
/ structural dimensions of modern society: a
manual / Ed. S. Makeieva. - K.: Institute of
Sociology of NAS of Ukraine, 2006. - S. 209-243.
2.
Yablonskaya T.N. Class
and status / T.N. Yablonskaya / / Expert. -
2007. - № 1-2. - S. 44-46 [access regime] http://www.expert.ua/articles/7/0/3193/
3.
Vasiliev
E.E. Problem of the creation of maddle class society in transition Ukraine /
E.E. Vasiliev / / Journal of the Academy of Advocacy of Ukraine. - 2011. - №
12. [access regime] http://www.nbuv.gov.ua/e-journals/Chaau/2011-3/11veetsu.pdf