Consumer Cooperation in Addressing Rural Employment Issues

Consumer cooperation is a socially-oriented system of economic development of territories that provides employment, establishes stability in society, and develops regional infrastructure. Throughout the twentieth century, in a collective economic system, consumer cooperation successfully developed various fields of activity: trade, public catering, production of food and non-food products, and the purchase of agricultural products and raw materials. The development of these spheres in rural areas through cooperative societies will help to revive rural territories. This study aims to determine the role of consumer cooperation in addressing rural employment issues. The study was conducted based on socio-economic indicators of consumer cooperation and statistical data from the central database of the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation. The research objectives are to identify the dynamics of the number and share of the rural population in the Russian Federation and the reasons that affect the negative trends in rural areas. It is necessary to analyze the current activities of consumer societies that are part of the Central Union of the Russian Federation and the role of the adopted “Concept of development of the consumer cooperation system for 2017–2021,” the main task of which is to increase the number of shareholders and attract and stimulate the interest of rural residents in cooperative forms of activity.