| Abstract [eng] |
The rapidly growing economy has highlighted problems, which have not been noticed before. Such phenomena as poverty, hunger, stress, poor living conditions and poor psychological, as well as health status, are some of the features of the modern world. These features exist due to income inequality which can be seen between individuals, households or any identifiable subjects. High income differentiation in society is understood as a phenomenon that needs to be tackled. However, a certain level of income inequality can be tolerated, depending on country’s priorities - choosing between social justice and economic growth. Various data had shown that the problem of income inequality is also relevant for Lithuania. Although the social exclusion of the population has decreased since entering the European Union in 2004, the issue of income inequality is constantly raised at the national level. Income inequality in Lithuania mainly affects people, which are dependent on social benefits paid by the government. Retirees and the disabled are among those, whose income depends directly on the decisions made by the government. People which do not have an education or appropriate qualifications are often lowincome earners. The United Nations sustainable development goals, which aim to achieve economic, social and environmental sustainability, are one of the challenges in Lithuania as well. Researchers, which are studying how income inequality affects economic development claim, that the impact can be both positive and negative and it all depends on the level of the development of country. The object of this work is the impact of income inequality on sustainable economic development. By using scientific literature, statistics, correlation and regression analyses, as well as graphical representation and indexing, this work aimed to analyse the impact of income inequality on sustainable economic development, to reveal the concept of income inequality and sustainable economic development and their theoretical relation, to conclude a methodology for research on how income inequality affects sustainable economic development and to determine the impact of income inequality on sustainable economic development in Lithuania. The obtained results showed that the impact of income inequality on the sustainable development of the Lithuanian economy is not significant. Income inequality only affects certain indicators of sustainable development, but in assessing the impact on the economic, social and environmental dimensions and the situation of sustainable development in Lithuania as a whole part, no correlation and causal relationship has been determined. |
