Welfare Stigma of Social Assistance on Women Recipients in Urban China

Abstract

In urban China, the study of the welfare stigma of poor females receiving social assistance is neglected. An in-depth interview method was used with 16 urban female assistance recipients aged 16–70 years old in the city of Chengdu to examine the forms and the consequences of welfare stigma on them. The purpose of the study is to examine the issue of welfare stigma of female assistance recipients in urban China by means of empirical evidence. The findings suggest that female assistance recipients suffer from welfare stigma in three forms: identity stigma, treatment stigma, and procedure stigma. The three kinds of stigmas mingled with each other are imposed on the female assistance recipients and make them victims of constructed welfare stigma. Welfare stigma does not affect the decision to apply for assistance to meet basic living expenses. Suffering from welfare stigma positions female recipients in a state of isolation and exclusion. The study’s results suggest that efforts should be made to reduce and eliminate welfare stigma of social assistance on female assistance recipients in urban China. Future study should be broadened to consider the comparison of the stigma on female recipients with that on male recipients.

Keywords:

• Welfare stigma
• social assistance
• Minimum Living Standard Guarantee System (Dibao)
• female assistance recipients

Notes

1 At the national level, there is Interim Measures of Social Assistance. At the local level, there is Measures for the Implementation of Social Assistance in Sichuan Province. The local regulation is essentially identical to national regulation but more refined.

2 The standard and proportion can be found and calculated from the website of the Chengdu Civil Affairs Bureau and the website of Ministry of Civil Affairs.

3 Check mechanism for assistance applicant’s family financial situations means that the civil affairs departments of governments at or above the county level can, based on applications or the social-assisted families’ requests and entrusting, check their family income status and property status through the government departments, agencies of social security and financial institutions as banks, insurers, securities agencies and others. The establishment of the check mechanism realizes more reasonable identification of social assistance targets, so that the procedure of publicity on posted notice could be canceled gradually which could help to reduce stigma.

Additional information

Funding

This research is funded by National Social Science Project of China (17BSH062) and Sichuan University Project (SKSYL201808).