Identification of problems and prospects for development of social infrastructure of rural territories of Ukraine

Purpose. The purpose of paper is to assess the current state of the social infrastructure of Ukrainian rural areas, identify problems and justify strategic development benchmarks based on a correlation and regression analysis of the dependence of the sustainability of rural development on social conditions. Methodology / approach. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research is the dialectic, systemic and synergetic scientific approaches, the use of which in the study of rural development is due to the orientation towards the construction of a European-oriented society in Ukraine. In the process of research, the following scientific methods have been used: abstract-logical, in particular methods of induction and deduction, analogy and comparison; operationalization of concepts; method of theoretical generalization and analysis and synthesis; various methods of the economic-statistical method (statistical observation, comparison, tabular); correlation-regression analysis, etc. Results. The article describes the scientific and theoretical principles of the formation and development of the social infrastructure of the village as an important factor ensuring the socio-cultural and housing and living conditions of the rural population in order to guarantee the reproduction of the labor force and increase the quality of life of the rural population. It was established that during the period of the market transformation of the agrarian sector, the destruction of the social sphere of the village took place, which resulted from the unsystematic, non-complex and often unprofessional solution of the problems of agrarian reform in Ukraine. It is proved that the correlation-regression model of quantitative assessment allows us to determine the extent and priority of the influence of certain exogenous and endogenous factors on the sustainability of rural areas development, and, as a result, provide an effective solution to the identified problems. The originality / scientific novelty of the results is to improve the methodological approach to the comprehensive assessment of the socio-economic status of rural areas based on the use of multi-factor correlation-regression models and to determine the correlation of the relationship between social factors that directly affect the sustainability of rural development. Practical value / implications is that the obtained results will contribute to the development of clear benchmarks for the introduction of new and upgrading of existing institutions, organizations and agencies of all sectors of social services, engineering communications, etc., which would provide a qualitatively new standard of living and well-being of rural inhabitants.