Most rural, mainly farming, families, apart from agricultural holding income also gain income from paid employment, pensions and annuities and self-employment. The budget of the rural population is more and more dependent on the situation in the non-agricultural labour market and thus on the level of salaries in the national economy. Agriculture loses its dominant position in the rural labour market as a source of income. The amount of non-agricultural income, of both urban and rural residents, is reflected in the shaping of their demand for goods and services produced and offered by farmers’ holdings. In the post-accession period, the economic and social situation of the rural population improved. The overall level of income rose and the size and structure of meeting the needs improved. This took place thanks to positive changes in the labour market, such as, inter alia, growth of salaries in the national economy, higher employment rate, lower unemployment rate. An unfavourable trend, especially in social terms, is the persistence of the advantage of salaries offered to men when compared to women employed in the same positions.