Per Capita Income Inequality in Czech Households Before, During and After the Economic and Financial Crisis

Abstract

The study tackles the issue of distribution inequality in equalized per capita income in households defined by multiple grouping criteria in the Czech Republic before, during and after the economic and financial crisis. The factors were economic status of the household head, number of children, education and the NUTS 3 administrative regions. Interval grouped per capita income data assembled within the EU-SILC framework via quota sampling were received from czso.cz for 2008, 2012 and 2016. Indicators of income level, variation, quantiles, medial and Gini index were calculated for the respective household groups. Income concentration in the Czech Republic is considerably low among OECD states and still decreasing due to government social and economic policy and favourable phase of the economic cycle. The largest income inequality was detected in the self-employed, jobless and qualified employees, households with 3 or more children, single-parent families with dependants, households with one or both tertiary educated parents or households residing in Prague or Středočeský region. The threat of poverty is imminent in the jobless, economically inactive pensioners, unqualified labourers and households with 3 or more children. Geographically, the poverty affects households mostly in Moravskoslezský or Ústecký regions. Government measures evidently helped reduce income inequality, poverty and social exclusion in Ústecký region in 2008. The least affected regions by poverty were Prague and Středočeský region. Significant differences in income level or concentration of income distributions by regional and other household grouping criteria were revealed.