九○年代以後城市貧困人口無論在數量或比重方面都不斷增長，城市貧困階層正 在形成。由於目前改革的重心是國營企業，因此大多數研究城市貧困問題的目光也多放在國 企改革造成的下崗職工的貧困問題上，而對牽涉生計問題更多的農民工貧困問題卻少有涉及 。本文將以從農村遷移或流動到城市謀求發展的農民工為對象，指出現存制度對農民工不利 之處，是造成城市農民工貧困的重要因素之一，並著重描述農民工貧困現況與嚴重性。

　　　　　In mainland China's urban areas, the number of poor people has increased since the 1990s and a poor class is in the making. As the present focus of economic reform is on the state-owned enterprises, research on this phenomenon has almost all been focused on questions concerning laid-off workers of these enterprises. However, in addition to this group, there is a large, mostlyignored force of peasant-workers moving from the rural areas to the cities. Therefore, the situation of these peasant-workers warrant our concern. This article will study the circumstances of these people and the impact of the existing welfare system on their life.