Dharmadasa, R.A.P.I.S.Rathnayake, K.K.H.M.2019-04-062019-04-062019-029789550481255http://erepo.lib.uwu.ac.lk/bitstream/handle/123456789/149/111.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=yReducing poverty is a major issue for Sri Lanka as many developing countries. Poverty can be defined as a household's inability to access wealth resources that are sufficient to provide for basic needs. The causes of poverty and their timely behavior are more important to understand the seriousness of the problem in a certain sector in a country. However, the existing data and information on the causes of poverty in household level are lacking in the context of Sri Lanka. Thus, using Household Income Expenditure Survey data (2009/2010) of Department of Census and Statistics, this study attempts to find the determinants of poverty in rural households by estimating Probit Regression model. The study shows that poverty status is strongly associated with the level of education of household members, household size and presence of local migrants in the family. More specifically, education level reduces the rural poverty whereas having local migrants in the household increase the poverty.enAgricultureEntrepreneurial AgricultureOther