The formation and evolution of vulnerability risk of rural poor groups under the perspective of social support —— based on the analysis of “sensitivity-resilience”

Abstract

The anticipated sensitivity and resilience practices of the poor groups expose them to significant vulnerability risks, with social support actions arising from the return to poverty posing additional interference. To comprehensively prevent and mitigate vulnerability risks, breakthroughs in corresponding social support are essential. This study, through questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews, collected original data from 750 impoverished households in Lantian County, northwest China. Using a bottom-up approach, it constructed a “sensitivity-resilience” framework to assess the vulnerability and resilience mechanisms of the relatively poor groups. The research reveals that vulnerability and resilience interact in response to risk shocks. The strong livelihood dependence, capital accumulation deficiency, and sensitivity characteristics of social marginalization among rural relatively poor groups, coupled with fragmented and inefficient social support, exacerbate the degree of vulnerability risks, leading to an amplification of sensitivity and a reduction in resilience. Based on these findings, targeted at the characteristics of vulnerability risks and the fatigue factors of social support, this study proposes policy recommendations at two levels: system reengineering to reduce sensitivity and long-term reengineering to enhance resilience, aiming to prevent large-scale return to poverty.