Features of agrarian self-employment. Experience of sociological research of the independent economy of rural families

Introduction. The article deals with topical issues of self-employment of rural residents. Based on statistical data that reflects the dynamics of participation of members of rural communities in agricultural production and indicate negative trends in the agricultural sector, the authors assess the role of family farming as a resource with creative potential. The difference in the socio-economic functions of personal subsidiary farming in the Soviet time and in the present is shown. In the past, an inverse relationship was observed between job satisfaction in social production and the size of personal farms: the larger the first, the smaller the second. With the growth of elements of urbanization and the technical equipment of agricultural labor, people refused to expand their private farms. Today, this trend has been suppressed under the influence of new circumstances - the possible absence of agricultural organizations and farmers, even in large settlements, which were considered the stronghold of rural urbanization. Although the total number of private farms from 2006 to 2016 decreased, but their weight among the means of survival increased. In addition, a group of families was formed, within about 10% of the total number of households of local rural communities, which began to work mainly or exclusively on their farmstead and land, which they received as a share, and managed to keep it. Such a choice of this group of families is assessed in the article as the realization of a self-contained life strategy aimed at rooting in the village and creating resources of well-being at the expense of its human potential. Methods. The meanings and results of this vital activity were studied according to the results of a sociological research in the form of a questionnaire survey of 300 families of the Saratov region and the Republic of Tatarstan by quota-cluster sample, representative of the age and gender structure of residents (from 18 to 70 years), the size of villages and their distance from the regional (republican) center. Results. Based on expert assessments, the characteristics and techniques of measuring private farms were selected, varying all households into successful and ordinary. The main factors affecting the status of success among them, a special role belongs to: the level of professionalism, the presence of goals related to the education of children, the help of retired parents, the ability to build links with market structures and large agricultural enterprises, municipalities of the district and settlement. Successful owners have noted an improvement in their financial situation over the past three years, they have been saving savings more often than others, making more purchases of technical equipment for labor, household appliances, mobile phones, books and sports equipment. Achieving good results in personal subsidiary farming indicates, on the one hand, the preservation of the creative human potential of the village, despite the reduction in the space of formalized employment. On the other hand, it calls for a reassessment of the institutionalization and practices of official farming, both small and medium. If strong household plots - in the sense of the villagers - are a real example of an accessible prospect for achieving well-being, then, for example, small-scale farming practices are reflected in consciousness as an example of a persistent “headache” due to the many obstacles - production, storage and marketing of products, and fiscal authorities. Conclusions. The successes and achievements of the avant-garde group of families are formed in an environment that does not always contribute, but more often inhibits the realization of its potential. The article highlights a number of aspects that need further understanding and adjustment of the complicity of the state and public organizations in the livelihoods of rural families.