ABSTRACT
Introduction This chapter looks into the case where those who receive poverty relief benefits from the state, that is, the welfare poor, are wrongly construed as the undeserving poor. Respecting the rights of minorities is important for social harmony and cohesion in any modern society. Poverty relief welfare programmes are a social arrangement that expresses respect for the rights and protection of the well-being of minorities in societies. The rationale for lending a helping hand to the poor and the disadvantaged is quite clear. The vulnerable people are unable to make ends meet by their own efforts; wider society needs to extend its assistance. In this regard, welfare programmes are a public policy instrument which is also the material base for the peaceful coexistence of a civilized society; it contributes to social harmony and law and order; and it is for the common interest of wider society (George and Wilding, 1984; Jordan, 1996). However, paradoxically, welfare programmes for the poor are rarely delivered on the basis of universal rights; their entitlements are usually tied into eligibility tests by assessing applicants’ means, family situation and even behaviours such as employment motivation. Such stringent practices reflect the principle underlying welfare programmes for poverty relief, that the applicants should be the deserving poor, meaning that they are not poor of their own making. In the present global economic environment where welfare states are under great pressure (Gilbert, 2002; TaylorGooby, 2001), a shift of sentiment towards the stringent side against welfare dependency is a common feature. In this regard, it is meaningful to see when the welfare poor are wrongly construed as the undeserving and whether such a misconception matters in terms of the perception of the efficacy of welfare programmes.
