| Poverty is not only an important social problem facing the world today,but also a top priority in building a well-off society in an all-round way.With the sustained development of economy and society,the poverty problem in rural areas in China also presents complex characteristics.The study of poverty from a single income dimension can not meet the research needs of poverty problem in China.As early as 1988,Amartya Sen put forward the theory of "capacity poverty" for the concept of multi-dimensional poverty.Sen attributes poverty to a lack of human capacity.Ability refers to the various combinations of functions that a person can achieve,representing a person’s "freedom to make choices between different lives." Among them,function refers to the "state and behavior" that people have reason to attach importance to.It is regarded as a component of human existence,such as physical health,good nutrition,comfortable living,well-educated,able to participate in various valuable activities,happiness,self-esteem and so on.Ability is a multi-dimensional concept,and income in Sen’s capacity framework is only a means to achieve functions.How to build an index system to measure poverty based on ability and analyze the causes of poverty is of great theoretical and practical significance for solving China’s poverty problem and winning the battle of poverty alleviation.Based on the existing research results and Sen’s feasible ability theory,this paper constructs a multi-dimensional poverty index system and sets the criteria for identifying multi-dimensional poverty.This method incorporates both qualitative and quantitative variables into the model for measurement.This method provides a framework for measuring multi-dimensional poverty,which is very flexible.Multidimensional poverty index can not only measure poverty in different dimensions,but also decompose urban and rural,provincial and regional groups according to research needs,so as to compare poverty differences among different groups.This paper considers the vulnerability of poverty and the intergenerational transmission of poverty when designing the index system.Besides the three basic dimensions of health,education and living standards,it adds the dimension of vulnerability,and uses the two indicators of "unemployment and laid-off" and "per capita income" to measure it.Vulnerability refers to the ability of families to withstand all kinds of risks.Our research on poverty is an analysis of the current situation,and in order to make farmers get rid of poverty for a long time,we must have a thorough understanding of the future situation of poverty,so as to do a good job of preventive measures in advance.Vulnerability is the prediction of future poverty.Therefore,this dimension is more predictable and preventable for us to study poverty-causing factors.The data used in this paper are related data in China Family Tracking Survey(CFPS)database.The results show that:(1)Adult education is the most important factor affecting the multi-dimensional poverty of rural households in China,and its contribution rate to poverty is 22.65%;(2)living standards are also important factors affecting multi-dimensional poverty,with the contribution rate of cooking fuel and water security as high as 16.62% and 14.07%;(3)the contribution rate of unemployment and laid-off indicators in the vulnerability dimension is 12.67%,which is not in poverty alleviation.Neglectable poverty-causing factors;(4)In the health dimension,the contribution rates of medical insurance and medical expenditure are 7.72% and 6.55%,respectively.Poverty caused by illness is also the focus of poverty alleviation work;(5)Compared with the eastern region,the poverty situation in the central and western regions is more serious.Among them,Liaoning Province,Henan Province and Gansu Province contributed the most to the multi-dimensional poverty index in the eastern,central and western regions respectively.Accordingly,this paper puts forward some pertinent suggestions on poverty alleviation and development from the aspects of education,strengthening infrastructure construction,promoting employment and strengthening medical and health security.The innovation of this paper lies in that the method of measurement is no longer dominated by the single dimension of income,but takes into account the non-income dimension(health,education,living standards and vulnerability),forming a multi-dimensional index system to measure poverty of rural households in China,so as to identify the rural poor families more comprehensively and accurately.This paper studies the regional differences of the causes of poverty in rural areas of China,which can make suggestions for poverty alleviation according to local conditions. |
