IMPACT OF RECESSION 2009-2013 ON INCOME INEQUALITY IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

The Czech Republic passed through a long recession during period 2009 - 2013. The decline of the real gross domestic product (GDP) started in 2009 and the level of the real GDP from 2008 was reached or slightly overcome in the year 2014. The first part of the paper deals with the impact of the recession on net national income. The second part of the contribution deals with the changes of income inequality during recession period 2009 - 2013. The third part of the paper deals with the impact of the recession on three income groups of the Czech society. The contribution applies the approach of the French economist Piketty and analyses the impact of recession on the "lower class" as the bottom 50% households, the "middle class" as the middle 40 percent (i.e. sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth 10%), and the "upper class" (top 10 percent). The distribution of households to ten deciles is given by their net money income and relevant data are taken from the website of the Czech Statistical Office. In this part of the paper, there are analyzed the changes in total gross money income of each three classes and also fluctuations in four forms of gross money income (i.e. income from employment, income from self-employment, social income, and capital earnings) of these three income groups. Different share in the total income and different developments of four types of gross money income allow explaining the changes of income inequality during recession period 2009 - 2013.