Social mechanisms for improving the quality of life of the population of rural territories

Introduction. The article considers the socio-economic factors of the formation of the quality of life of the population of rural areas and the social mechanism of bringing its parameters to a higher level. The author believes that the volume of the elements that make up the quality of life cannot be limited by the range of services or items and their availability. No less relevant are such dimensions as human dimension, the hierarchy of the dominant meanings of the good in different types of communities of social territories. The dependence of the means of influencing the situation depending on the natural and climatic conditions, spatial concentration of the economy and territorial distance from urbanization centers is considered. Methods. To analyze the prerequisites for the establishment of a good quality of life in the local dimension, at the level of different types of rural settlements, the concept of “handicap” was introduced, which can be operationalized from the point of view of habitus, the rooted habit of considering this or that good as exceptional, inherent only in its rural territory. The socio-economic threats and challenges that exist today in relation to the functioning of agriculture, in the context of changes in its structure, the ability of the rural population to have sustainable channels for the flow of funds to meet their needs, are assessed. Results. Arguments are given regarding the lack of practice in creating new business organizations in the countryside, which is the greatest obstacle to the establishment of the quality of life of the rural population. Conclusions. Given the limitations associated with the implementation of any projects to transform conditions on a large scale, the author believes that the new State Program for the Integrated Development of Rural Territories for the 2020-2025 years opens up great opportunities for cooperation between sectoral governing bodies and local rural communities to expand the scale of transformation of the living environment of the villagers, the formation of a good quality of life.