A Comparative Analysis of Household Expenditure in Poland and Ukraine

The aim of the article is to study similarities and differences in household expenditure in Ukraine and Poland using the methodology of comparative analysis. Ukraine and Poland are similar in many ways, but the structure of their household expenditure is considerably different. It is revealed that the household expenditure structure of the countries is stable. It is traced that in both of them the largest part of expenditure is accounted for by basic household needs (in Ukraine, food and soft drinks, as well as expenditures on housing and utility services; in Poland, expenditures on housing and utility services, as well as food and soft drinks).It is proved that the expenditure structure depends not only on income, compliance with social standards and guarantees, but it significantly depends on changes in basic expenses. Using the calculated paired correlation coefficients, differences in the structure of individual expenditure items are established. With a decrease in the expenditure on food and non-alcoholic drinks, in Ukraine the expenditure on housing and utility services increases while in Poland it considerably decreases. In the household expenditure structure in Ukraine and Poland, there are groups of expenditure that change identically and demonstrate similar trends.These features are identified using cluster analysis. In Ukraine, the expenditure items are grouped into three clusters. A positive trend of decreasing expenditure on basic needs and increasing it for secondary ones is identified. Basic needs are divided into two clusters depending on whether they are characterized by a downward or upwardtrend. For Poland, the distribution of expenditures between the two clusters showed a steady trend towards an increase in secondary expenditures against a decrease in basic ones, which confirms the steady development of the country and an improvement in the standard of living of the population.The study of Poland’s experience proves that reforms and an attractive business climate make the economy more efficient. The prospects for further research are the identification of the relationship between the structure of income and expenditure, their modeling, and forecasting positive changes as concerns the improvement of the level and quality of life of the population.