DECENT LIVING STANDARDS AS A CATEGORY OF THE WELFARE STATE

Abstract

The article examines a decent standard of living as a legal category of the welfare state. A comparative analysis with the sufficient and necessary standard of living is provided. The criteria of a decent standard of living are defined. Articles One and Three of the Constitution of Ukraine proclaim our State to be a social State, where “A person, his/her life and health, honor and dignity, inviolability and security are recognized in Ukraine as the highest social value” [1]. The development of a welfare state implies its orientation in accordance with a particular social model, as well as the consolidation of the fundamental principles on which the system of social security and protection institutions will be based. Among the principles of ensuring social rights on which any concept of a welfare state is based, a decent standard of living is central. The purpose of this paper will be to reveal a decent standard of living as one of the fundamental categories in the theory of the welfare state, and to attempt to define its criteria for a person in a country that positions itself as a welfare state. Declaring a state as a social state implies the implementation of a number of measures in the field of domestic policy that would ensure a high standard of living of the population in accordance with generally accepted international social standards. Given the existence in international legal documents and at the national level, through constitutional consolidation, we have at least three categories of living standards: a necessary standard of living, a sufficient standard of living, and a decent standard of living. When defining the content of the necessary standard of living, sufficient standard of living and decent standard of living as legal categories, it seems important to distinguish between them, to avoid substitution of concepts, because these categories are undoubtedly not identical, and provide for a certain progression of the quality of human life from the first to the last. In order to clarify the concept of “decent standard of living”, the interpretation of dignity is of particular importance, when it is understood as one of the intangible goods and fundamental rights. A decent level as a set of elements that can be divided into two components: physiological, responsible for material security, and social, as human activity in society. To define a decent standard of living as a goal of state social policy, it is particularly important to develop clear criteria and to have it independently assessed by various international institutions. On the basis of the criteria of international institutions’ ratings, the following elements can be identified, which we consider extremely important in determining a decent standard of living. In our opinion, these are: − healthy life expectancy and longevity; − personal freedoms; − protection, health and environment; − security and social stability in the country; − material well-being based on gross national product (GNP) per capita and gross national income (GNI) per capita.