Based on the Family Development Capability Framework,an analysis framework was constructed to analyze the factors influencing the vulnerability of farmers,and through panel data model with interactive fixed effects,the factors influencing the vulnerability of farmers at different income levels and across different family life cycle were investigated by using the data of China Household Panel Studies (CFPS) from 2010 to 2018.The study shows that the endogenous motivation of farmers,which is measured by working time,education expenditure and insurance expenditure,has an impact on their vulnerability,in which working time and insurance expenditure reduce the vulnerability whereas the education expenditure increases the vulnerability of farm households in the short term because of the phenomenon of “poverty due to education”,and only in the medium and long term(4 years) can it reduce the vulnerability. The policy environment, mainly represented by the macro-environment, is effective in reducing the vulnerability of farm households. There is significant heterogeneity in the key influences on the vulnerability of farm households at different income levels and across the family life cycle.In the future,poverty prevention and governance in China requires a two pronged approach to prevent low-income farmers from returning to poverty by stimulating endogenous motivation and maintaining assistance policies. It is suggested to guard against the phenomenon of “poverty due to education”,provide the commercial insurance for all the adult labor and the elderly,and focus on the vulnerability of farmers during the burden and empty-nest periods.