Title: Geographical features of poverty and formation of middle class in Ukraine
Abstract: Julia Pereguda. Geographical Features of Poverty and Formation of Middle Class in Ukraine. Analysis of social and geographic aspects of the study of the middle class in Ukraine and government policy on poverty reduction is very important at current stage of social development. Although the problem of poverty in Ukraine gained official recognition after the approval of the Poverty Reduction Strategy by the Decree of President of Ukraine dated 15 August 2001 р. # 637/2001, significant results could not be reached. The heterogeneity of poverty and problems of the middle class depends on a number of factors resulting from regional conditions. Poverty as a socio-economic phenomenon is directly related to both the level of economic development and inequality in access to tangible and intangible benefits. Like poverty, the middle class is present in every modern society, but the difference lies in the degree of its uniformity, stability, scale, and role in society. The main features of the middle class are: the level of material wealth and consumption, education and professional qualification status, economic and social motivation, method and way of life, the ability to self-organize. The study bases on statistical information by Ukrainian regions related to assessment of relative poverty and poverty depth. Strong middle class cannot form while poverty increases.