PRAGUE, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Around 9.6 percent of Czechs were threatened by income poverty last year, said the Czech Statistics Office on Thursday. The figure was up 0.6 percent over the previous year.
The income poverty line is set at 11,963 crowns per individual per month, or 25,122 per family with two children, said the office, releasing the result of the survey on income and living conditions of households.
The Czech Republic continues to rank among the EU countries with the lowest share of people under the poverty line, said the office.
The average monthly wage in the Czech Republic currently stands at 33,840 crowns.
The survey shows that most households get their income quite easily or with little difficulty. But this is a big problem for 17.6 percent of households. In particular, single parents with children and women over the age of 65 who live alone have difficulty getting along with income, said the office.
Also, the survey finds that almost one tenth of Czech households pay more than 40 percent of their net income for housing, including energy. About two thirds of them live in rented flats and the largest group among them are lonely pensioners.
