本研究之對象為全國平均每人每月總收入低於貧窮線最低生活費水準之下，且接受政府每月生活救助之低收入戶家庭。不同於以往研究，本文涵蓋近十年來內政部三次低收入戶生活狀況調查，包含第一款（重貧）、第二款貧戶、第三款（輕貧）等三款類別之貧戶。本研究除了分析影響這三款貧戶的特性外，也進一步分析貧戶獲得社會救助後，哪些特性會增加其「改善貧窮」的機率，哪些特性反而加重其「貧窮惡化」的機率，而又是那些特性之貧戶會有社會福利依賴的現象。由於本文的被解釋變數分成三款貧窮類別，因此利用多項式羅吉斯模型來分析影響不同貧窮款別與不同貧窮變動程度之特性。本文之實證結果發現，「男性」為戶長之貧戶落入第一款重貧之機率比女性戶長高，同時，男性戶長之貧戶在獲得社會救助後其「貧窮惡化」的機率也比女性戶長之貧戶高，顯示台灣照顧女性貧戶之福利政策發揮了實際的作用。「戶內依賴人數」愈多不僅提高貧戶落入第一款重貧機率，同時，「戶內依賴人數」愈多也是加重貧窮惡化的重要特性之一。「戶內工作人數」愈多，可降低貧戶落入第一款重貧的機率，同時，提高「戶內工作人數」也提高「貧窮改善」的特性之一。此外，戶長教育程度之高低只有對第三款輕貧有顯著影響，但相對的，貧戶在獲得社會救助後，低教育程度戶長之家戶對社會福利依賴的程度比高教育程度戶長之家戶大。當控制時間變數後，年齡只有些微顯著影響第一款重貧發生的機率，顯示「貧窮老人化」的現象在台灣社會並不普遍。最後，貧窮不變的機率似乎有隨著時間逐漸增加的趨勢，顯示台灣貧戶依賴社會福利的現象可能有愈來愈嚴重的情形。

This paper focuses on the total income of low-income households receiving the government's monthly living assistance with the lowest living standards below the poverty line based on monthly per capita income. By drawing from three government surveys conducted within the last decade on the living conditions of low-income households, it distinguishes three categories of poor households, namely, very poor, poor, and slightly poor households. Besides analyzing the specific factors that influence these categories, this study examines which factors increase the probability of both experiencing less poverty and conversely sinking into more poverty. A multinomial logit model is used to analyze the factors affecting the different categories of poor households and the extent of the changes from one poverty category to another. The empirical results indicate that the probability of poor households falling into the very poor group of households and seeing their situation worsen is higher for male-headed households than for female-headed households. Furthermore, the higher the number of household dependents, the more detrimental is the effect of poverty, while the opposite applies when the number of household members in employment increases, thereby increasing the probability of the household's poverty situation improving. The education of the household head only has a significant effect on the slightly poor category. However, after poor households obtain social assistance, those with less-educated household heads rely more on social welfare than their more-educated counterparts. After controlling for time variables, the age of the household head is found to have only a slight impact on households falling into the very poor group, so that poverty does not necessarily increase with age in Taiwanese society. Finally, the probability of poverty not changing over time appears to be gradually increasing, suggesting that the reliance on social welfare is likely to increase among Taiwan's poor households in the future.