A government can fund a social programme and define who qualifies. But will eligible people come forward if applying exposes their financial hardship? In many settings, applications are made in person and are difficult to keep private. This visibility may create a hidden barrier to social protection.

Several factors may prevent eligible people from claiming support. Applications can be costly, time-consuming, and difficult to understand, and may require documents people do not have (Bhargava and Manoli 2015, Finkelstein and Notowidigdo 2021). In low-income settings, recipients may also face pressure to share benefits with relatives and friends (Baland et al. 2011, Platteau 2014).

A third possibility is psychological: being seen asking for help may threaten applicants’ self-worth or expose them to anticipated judgement – a concern often discussed under the broader heading of welfare stigma. Most evidence on this psychological cost comes from high-income countries (Lasky-Fink and Linos 2022).

In Fafchamps and Sadou Zouleya (2026), we ask whether making the application itself observable deters demand for income support among low-income populations. In our experiment, the public procedure screened out 28% of participants who would otherwise have received the transfer.