продовольственная безопасность,
экономическая доступность продовольствия,
эффект масштаба в потреблении домохозяйств,
рациональные нормы потребления,
государственная социальная помощь,
неполные семьи
Abstract
The purpose of this work was to develop a methodology for quantitatively assessing the economic accessibility of food in a region, followed by its testing on data from the Nizhny Novgorod region and substantiation of proposals for adjusting the parameters of socio-economic policy in the studied region. To achieve this goal, the approach where food expenditures were calculated as a share of household income was deemed most appropriate. The direct assessment of economic food accessibility was conducted based on initial data, including statistical data on household income, expenditures, and consumption in the Nizhny Novgorod region, retail prices for food products in the region, as well as the results of a sample household survey in the region. The "economic food accessibility level" indicator, which accounts for the economies of scale in household consumption, was taken as the criterion for economic accessibility. The indicator's scale had three zones of values: critical; moderate; high. The critical level of economic food accessibility in 2024 was characteristic of the following household categories in the Nizhny Novgorod region: single-parent families; families with children with per capita incomes below the subsistence minimum. Using the share, rather than the absolute value of food expenditures, in the calculations allowed for avoiding results that do not align with theoretical principles, such as the "Deaton-Paxson paradox." In the future, the model for assessing economies of scale in consumption can be improved by more detailed consideration of household social characteristics and differentiation of assessments by population groups. In conclusion, it is recommended to increase the amount of state social assistance in the region for the household groups identified in the study with critical food accessibility. The amount of increase in payments, according to calculations, should be at least 1.5-1.9 thousand rubles for single-parent families, and 500-800 rubles per person for families with children and incomes below the subsistence minimum.
