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KMID : 1001320090360010143
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Social Welfare Policy
2009 Volume.36 No. 1 p.143 ~ p.171
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Perception of Stigma for being poor and Experiences in Using Public Assistance among Female Near Poverty Groups
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Kim Jung-Hee
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Abstract
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This article concentrates on the perceptions of stigma for being poor and experiences in using public assistance among female near poverty groups and addresses alternative policies to reduce stigma on public assistance and support their independence. In-depth interviews with four female near poverty groups are analyzed. In this research, the stage of experiences of poor women is divided into ‘entering poverty’ period, ‘coping with poverty’ period, and ‘overcoming poverty’ period, and participants’ experiences are categorized into perceptions of stigma for being poor, changes of livelihood and psychological changes. According to the analysis, the findings show that the participants understand the stigma for being poor as degrading of their economic and social status, role loss as parents and guilty. The participants’ experiences of stigma in using welfare services include ‘putting a limitation on using food stamp’, ‘discrimination against their children on welfare,’ and ‘the workers’ negative attitudes to welfare recipients’. The meanings of receiving public assistance are ‘manifestation of a motherhood’, ‘overcoming process of the poverty hereditary’, and ‘the last measure of living.’ These findings suggest that pubic assistance programs should focus not only on financial concerns but also on reducing the negative stigma in delivering welfare services. Most of all, the workers should recognize the right of claim to public assistance services and inform about their information. For supporting their independence, the administration must secure permanent employment, and provide increased medical coverage and the educational expenditure of their children.
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KEYWORD
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near poverty groups, poverty, stigma, welfare dependency, public assistance
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