Categories of need, welfare stigma, and their combined effect on non-take-up of targeted income support in Hong Kong

While welfare stigma is a unique factor in explaining the non-take-up of targeted income support, the role of different categories of needs in the link between welfare stigma and non-take-up remains less understood. In this study focusing on older adults in Hong Kong, we use multivariate logistic regression analysis based on data from an original cross-sectional household survey to quantify the extent to which the effect of self-perceived welfare stigma on the non-take-up of old-age Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (old-age CSSA), the most stigmatised targeted social assistance programme for older adults in Hong Kong, is moderated by poverty (household expenditure, material deprivation, social exclusion) and health (chronic illness, pain, activities of daily living) needs. We find a consistent negative association between needs and personal welfare stigma, but less so stigmatisation by the public. Higher poverty needs increased the odds of non-take-up of old-age CSSA; the impact of welfare stigma on the odds of non-take-up varied with different levels of poverty needs. By contrast, higher health needs decreased the odds of non-take-up of old-age CSSA; the respective interaction terms of welfare stigma and health needs indicators did not yield any statistically significant results. The article contributes to the literature by showing that different need categories moderate the relationship between welfare stigma and non-take-up of targeted social assistance differently. We explain these differences by pointing towards the cultural context, programme-specific aspects of old-age CSSA in Hong Kong, and, ultimately, local perceptions of older adults with different needs as ‘less’ and ‘truly’ deserving.