The study follows a worker-based approach and distinguishes wage workers and self-employed workers. Our hypotheses stress the role of head worker characteristics in explaining the probability of a household being poor. Using data from the Vietnam Household Living Standard Survey 2014 (VHLSS 2014), we estimate a probit regression model. The result shows that households with the head are informal wage earners, have the highest risk of living in poverty, while with the head are formal wage earners enjoy the least. The effects of self-employed households fall between those two extremes. The weaknesses of informal employment are reflected in four main aspects: low labour quality, low education level, low working time (hours/year), and lack of social insurance or labour protection. The findings can serve as evidence for formulating effective policies related to poverty reduction.