ABSTRACT
A traditional argument connected to Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the issue of maintaining economically vital rural communities, particularly in disadvantaged regions where alternative income opportunities are limited. This chapter aims to make a comparison between Greek and Bulgarian rural areas by measuring social sustainability indicators. It focuses on the effects of household behavior on social sustainability in terms of changes in employment, gender, migration and social capital. In order to study and measure these impacts, the chapter includes a number of indicators relating to economic data, but also employment, social cohesion, social inclusion and demographic changes. The necessary data was collected through a household survey, which included a questionnaire, submitted to a large sample of farm households in the European Union countries. The chapter discusses some questions of this questionnaire, which focus on the social indicators to compare the two European Union rural areas.
