Shame, stigma and the take‐up of social assistance: Insights from rural C hina

Abstract

While the reasons for low take‐up of social assistance benefits are complex, stigma is understood to be an important factor. In this study, the proposition that financial need and social rights moderate the deterrent effect of stigma was examined with respect to China as a deviant case. Dibao , the world's largest social assistance scheme, is characterised by high take‐up but poor targeting, stigma and informal discretion in the context of rapidly declining poverty. Qualitative fieldwork reveals how the contrasting stigmas of poverty and abuse are negotiated to claim benefits and illustrates the dangers of implementing social assistance without supportive political, legal and cultural infrastructures. Key Practitioner Message: • Dibao, the world's largest social assistance scheme, is characterised by high take‐up but poor targeting; • The weakening of shame associated with injustice helps to account for the large number of ineligible people successfully claiming dibao; • The strengthening of shame linked to poverty helps to explain the low take‐up of dibao by people experiencing poverty .

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