Abstract

Abstract:

Focusing on the stigma associated with being identified as a welfare recipient, this article examines how welfare stigma is generated in urban China's primary social assistance programme—dibao—in terms of both system design and recipients' personal characteristics. Analysis of data on dibao, collected in 29 provinces in 2015, reveals that the poorest and most vulnerable families perceive less stigma and that the other programmes attached to dibao can help reduce stigma. In addition, welfare stigma is still fostered by the ways in which means testing is implemented. Stringent and complicated screening procedures that determine eligibility have led to increased stigma. A robustness test on the previous wave of data collection in 2013 has further verified the results.

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