[[alternative]]Effects of Gender and Marital Status on Household Poverty in Taiwan

[[abstract]]本研究的目的在了解貧窮的性別與婚姻屬性的差異。所採用的資料爲「八十年度臺灣地區家庭收支調查」的原始資料檔。在文中分別以邏輯迴歸與相關的貧窮指標來回答研究問題。本研究主要發現如下：1．女性戶長家戶相對上較男性戶長家庭，陷入貧窮的機會高，貧窮的嚴重程度亦較嚴重。在戶長婚姻屬性上，寡居家戶較有偶家戶有更高的貧窮機會，而有偶家戶又比未婚家戶有更高的貧窮機會。2．如果我們以FGT值來看的話，女性非有偶家戶的貧窮嚴重程度是所有家戶別中最高的，其次是男性非有偶家戶，第三則是女性有偶家戶，最後則是男性有偶家戶。但如果我們只看貧戶率的話，則貧戶率最高的是女性非有偶家戶，其次是女性有偶家戶，再則是男性非有偶家戶，最後則是男性有偶家戶。3．對整體貧窮家戶而言，影響致貧的因素分別爲：家戶的居住地點、戶長婚姻別、戶長性別、戶長教育程度、戶長年齡與家戶的依賴比等因素。而這之中又以人力資本因素的影響力最大、次則是工作結構因素，最小的則是家庭結構因素。 Using data from the 1990 Taiwan Budget and Expenditure Survey, this study examines the effects of gender and marital status of household heads on the probability of a household to fall into and stay in poverty. Results from the logistic regression analyses are summarized as follows: (1)Compared with male-headed households, the probability of living in poverty and the level of poverty of female-headed households are higher. In terms of marital status of household heads, house holds headed by widowers/widows are more likely to fall into poverty than those headed by married couples. However, the latter are more likely to become poor than those headed by unmarried people. (2)Using FGT value as an indicator of poverty, we found female-headed households (including widowed, single, divorced and separated) the poorest group followed by male-headed households without spouses, female-headed households with spouses, and male-headed households with spouses, in that order. (3)Factors contributing to household poverty include location of household, marital status, gender, level of education, and age of household head, and (household) dependent ratio. Overall, we found human capital more important than local employment structure or family composition in assessing the likelihood for a household to fall into poverty