Social cohesion in the countries and regions of the European Union in view of the social progress index

Abstract

Currently, it has becoming increasingly important to ensure social cohesion, also the regional one. It has been the objective of political actions undertaken at various levels, including the transnational level. The aim of the article is to identify social changes taking place in Poland and its regions in the light of social progress. The EU includes countries with a different level of social progress in terms of the synthetic social progress index. According to the analysis conducted, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland are the EU countries with the highest value of the social progress index, whereas Bulgaria and Romania are characterized by the lowest value of this index. The fact that EU countries reach different results in the scope of the individual components of this index also indicates the areas to which actions undertaken under the economic policy should be addressed. The measurement of social cohesion in the regions in the light of the regional social progress also makes it possible to identify top-ranked voivodeships in Poland. A high level of GDP per capita is not always associated with a high level of social development. The improvement of the quality of life, the reduction of poverty and the provision of adequate environmental conditions, i.e. the widely understood social development, should constitute the main goal of development strategies planned for a given country or region. It also entails the need to focus more on the inclusive development, and at the same time, on achieving not only economic, but also social cohesion.