自改革開放以來，中共有關方面對於貧困與反貧困問題非常重視，並提出不少政策方針來謀求解決，在“扶貧工作"上也取得一些成效。惟自九0年代以來，因國有企業改革導致下崗職工大量的出現，使城鎮出現一批過去未曾遭遇的新貧問題。當前大陸城鎮“新貧困群體\"主要來自那些經濟效益不住的國有企業的「下崗」和退休職工及其家庭。職工下崗後的精神生活狀況普通欠佳，存在苦悶和悲觀的心理。有些人因生活桔掘，引發家庭生活不睦。此外，城鎮居民貧困化也會導致勞資衝突頻發，職工「上訪J事件增多，重大刑事案件大幅上升，及企業人才流失嚴重的問題。

Regional economic disparities in mainland China have been widening following the initiation of the reform and opening-up policy. As a result， efforts have been undertaken over the past years to assist the poor in the poverty-stricken inland provinces， especially in the rural areas. Since the 1990， however， efforts have also been made to eradicate poverty in the urban areas after many workers and staff of state-owned enterprises were laid off in the process of enterprise reform.

These layoffs have subsequently led to an increase in the cases of mental disease， family discord， criminal activities， and employer-employee tension.