Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademija

This paper has aimed to explore the inter-linkages of economic growth, poverty and inequality in the context of the European Union (EU) countries during the period of 2005 – 2016. Descriptive statistics analysis and econometric methods have been applied for this purpose. Research results have revealed statistically significant interrelationships between growth and poverty in half of the European Union countries. Moreover, in majority of these countries poverty has been elastic of economic growth. It should be noted, that the countries with higher level of economic development have relatively smaller share of population living below the national poverty lines. However, we cannot say the same about the growth – inequality relationships, which have varied across the EU countries. There are economically strong countries with relatively high income inequality and economically weaker countries with lower income distribution coefficients. However, in many cases poverty and income inequality tend to move in the same direction, i.e. as one increases, the other as well and vice versa. Finally, the insights of the research could be useful in developing a common strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and achieving the goals for Europe 2020.

This paper analyzes theoretical issues of relationship between unemployment, poverty and crime in sustainable development. The concepts of these socio-economical categories were analyzed and theoretical aspects of relationship between unemployment, poverty and crime were disclosed. It was found that unemployment, poverty and crime, as distinct socio-economical process is not widely considered in the literature. More often the specific relationships between two of the variables are studied. The evaluation of unemployment and poverty, unemployment and crime, crime and poverty showed that all three components are linked together through a negative connotation with socio-economical consequences, which further reinforces the ignoring of principles of sustainable development in the socio-economical policy of the country.