Along with the establishment and implementation of minimum living standards in rural areas, the living condit ion of the neediest people in these areas has been substantially improved. However, the survey also shows some difficult ies still exist, such as the minimum living standard is too low, the difficulty of identifying eligible receivers and the singleness of fund raising channel. Based on the views of civil administrat ion staff and farmers on the function of minimum living standard, the paper proposes countermeasures, including the minimum living standard should keep pace with rising consumer price, a scientific way of identifying eligible receivers and diversifying fund raising channels.