Czech Republic: Working Poor Class Grows

Politics ♦ Published: September 28, 2013; 10:46 ♦ (Vindobona)

In total, about one million Czechs fall into the category of employed poor. Their number is growing substantially.

Czech Republic: Working Poor Class Grows / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / The Communist International (based on an artwork by Boris Kustodiev, d. 1927) [Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication]

About one million Czechs are classified as “working poor”. This means that about 10% of the Czech population has severe subsistence difficulties despite employment.

The main reason underlying the growing poverty is the economic recession. For six quarters in a row, the Czech GDP was down since the beginning of 2012. This year, the Czech GDP is expected to contract by…