Determinants of Poverty Status in Taiwan: A Multilevel Approach

The aim of this study was to analyze the determinants of poverty in Taiwan, including family-level and regional-level factors. In contrast to previous studies, which have overlooked the interrelationships between individuals, families, and social structures because of methodological limitations, we applied hierarchical generalized linear models to a hierarchical structure. We used multiple data sources collected by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting, and Statistics in the Taiwanese Executive Yuan, including the 2006 Survey of Family Income and Expenditure, the 2006 National Statistics, and the 2006 Manpower Utilization Survey. We examined 13,640 households from 23 cities and counties (regions). Our results indicated that poverty risks vary by region. Among the family-level factors studied, education, socioeconomic status, age, family type, dependency ratio, marital status, and number of earners are connected to poverty status. Significant relationships were also observed between poverty and structural characteristics, such as economic inequality, economic growth, structural transition, and labor market characteristics. We also attempted to detect cross-level interactions between family-level and regional-level factors. Surprisingly, none of the cross-level interactions were statistically significant. This article presents the unexpected results and research limitations.