Incomes of rural and non-rural households in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The paper compares incomes of Czech rural and non-rural households and identifies households persisting below the poverty threshold. The data were taken from the statistic research Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) of 2005 and 2008. Households were classified according to the municipality size (2000 inhabitants). Household incomes were assessed according to net annual income per consumption unit, living minimum and subjective minimum income. Positive skewness and high kurtosis is a typical feature of household incomes; a similarity with log-normal distribution can be presumed. The difference between rural and non-rural household incomes was significant (p < 0.05 in 2005; p < 0.001 in 2008). The development of incomes in both areas is assessed with the shift-share analysis regarding the national, industry mix and regional component.