THEORETICAL EVOLUTION OF FAMILY BUDGET DISTRIBUTION DECISIONS AND THEIR INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON
Relevance. Demographic transformation, which began in the middle of the 20th century mainly in economically developed countries, has now become the most important global trend. Decline in the birth rate, increase in life expectancy, change in the habitual structure of households almost everywhere in recent decades have occurred against the backdrop of accelerated urbanization, increase in the level of education of citizens, changes in forms of employment, and the formation of a digital economy. The turbulence of the socio-economic space, the challenges and shocks of recent times are even more significantly and rapidly changing the usual formats of various aspects of household life, including changes in the traditional approaches of households to the use of their budgets. Objective: based on the basic provisions of relevant scientific theories for this topic, to identify the main directions of evolutionary transformations in the approaches of households when they use family budgets, which are typical for different countries. Methods: analysis and synthesis of scientific literature, problem-focused comparison of theoretical concepts, analysis of current OECD statistics on household income and expenditure in various countries. Results. The study showed that modern scientific theories consider issues related to the formation and use of family budgets by households in a very ambiguous and rather contradictory way, emphasizing various causes, manifestations and expected consequences of the phenomenon under consideration. The research identified common and specific features characteristic of the formation and spending of family budgets in a number of OECD countries (on the example of Germany, USA, UK, Japan and Italy). It is shown that the development of the financial market not only expanded the investment opportunities of households, but also increased the risks associated with decisions on spending their budgets. Conclusions. Based on the results of the study, a conclusion was drawn that for a deeper study of the trends that characterize the process of making household decisions on spending family budgets, a comprehensive methodology is needed, including a reasonable combination of ideas, principles and tools proposed at different times by representatives of various scientific schools and directions. Based on the analysis of statistical data, it is proved that the optimization of the institutional environment in the capital market can stimulate households to make decisions to increase the share of their investments in relatively risky assets. It is concluded that the development of the capital market in conditions of high concentration of national wealth, as a rule, increases inequality and the society income polarization. In this regard, the development of national financial markets must be considered in a broader context, including the search for new approaches to solving key socio-economic problems of modern society.