13. Index of Socioeconomic Status of the Rural Areas

The presence of a composite indicator for assessing the current situation, dynamics and potential for socioeconomic development of the rural communities is a good basis for developing effective institutional and political decisions aimed at promoting and generating local economic growth.
The proposed integrated indicator here called “Index of socioeconomic status“ (ISÅS), averages four composite indexes through which the current state of the rural area compares to the average national level. The selected indicators report the level of internal potential of the municipality to generate income, the degree of dependence of the local population on cash income transferred from central funds, the local demand for labor and under-use of the available workforce, and the quality of the age structure of the population.
The analysis of the obtained results leads to the classification of the 15 rural areas of the Plovdiv district in four categories: 1) with normal (close to the average for Bulgaria), socioeconomic status, 2) with an average socioeconomic status and problems with the search for employment; 3) with an average socioeconomic status and problems with income and 4) with low socioeconomic status.