EN
The aim of the work is to present of the main theoretical aspects of rural household adaptation to the transformed economic system in Poland in the light of needs for multifunctional development of rural areas, mainly in the regions of former state farms domination. The concept of multifunctional development and theories of rural households are discussed. The author presents the socio-economic and social characteristics of rural households, including forms of adaptation. The three forms of socio-economic adaptation: passive, active and structural, are distinguished. The preliminary results of an empirical survey of 161 rural households in eight villages located in three communes of Gołdap district are presented.