Can a poverty alleviation programme really help vulnerable rural households? Insights from China

Poverty alleviation through relocation (PAR) is an important component of poverty alleviation programmes and relocates vulnerable rural households from inhospitable areas to help them get out of poverty. To examine the impact of a poverty alleviation programme on rural households’ ability to establish a sustainable livelihood, this article analyzes the influence of PAR on rural households from the perspective of livelihood vulnerability in a two-way fixed effects model. We have found that PAR significantly reduced rural households’ livelihood vulnerability, and the longer the households remained relocated, the stronger the effect. PAR reduced livelihood vulnerability by lowering exposure and increasing adaptive capacity. Moreover, adaptive capacity increased with the relocation time. Finally, the influence of PAR was stronger in rural relocation than urban relocation, but the influence of relocation time was opposite. Given this, the government should improve the construction of the resettlement areas to reduce the risk exposure of the relocated population. Industry and employment assistance need to be implemented to enhance their adaptive capacity. Finally, it’s necessary to promote the social integration of urban relocated households and help them adapt to life in new communities to accelerate the reduction of livelihood vulnerability.