DIFFERENTIATION OF SELF-ASSESSMENT AND OBJECTIVE INEQUALITIES IN THE LEVEL OF CONSUMPTION OF RURAL HOUSEHOLDS

This article is about the issues of self-assessment of inequalities in standards of living in rural areas in Poland. The goal of the research is to identify the differentiation of subjective assessments of the standard of living made by rural households. Subjective feelings of the surveyed households were compared with selected objective characteristics of their material situation. The most representative indicator of the households’ financial situation there was an assumed level of consumer spending. A comparative analysis of the self assessment was conducted, the consumer spending and the selected characteristics of households belonging to various socio-economic groups. The econometric analysis showed that there is a strong relationship between self-assessment of economic situation and the level of consumer spending of households. It should be emphasized, that there is a significant impact of the reference group (there was a socio-economic group) on the households self-assessment. In the study, econometrical and statistical analysis were used. The study was based primarily on the source of information coming from the panel study of household budgets conducted in the year 2013 by the GUS (Central Statistical Office) in Poland