🙈 Hidden poverty and non-take-up of benefits
In brief
Hidden poverty refers to people who would be entitled to social benefits but do not apply for them – out of ignorance, shame, because the procedure is felt to be too complicated, or because the expected amount seems too small for the effort. As a result they do not appear in any social statistics as benefit recipients, even though in reality they have to live on less money than the standard rate provides for.
According to available studies, those particularly affected are older people entitled to basic income support in old age and people with a very small top-up entitlement to basic income support (Grundsicherungsgeld). An application is often worthwhile even for small amounts, because further concessions depend on it (see social pass, exemption from co-payments, broadcasting fee).
Step by step
- Roughly check your entitlementUse an independent social benefits calculator or an advice centre to check whether your income and assets are below the need that applies to you.
- Do not be put off by the amountEven a small monthly entitlement is often worthwhile, because it opens up additional concessions (social pass, exemption from co-payments, exemption from the broadcasting fee).
- Apply earlySince benefits are generally not paid retroactively for periods long past, hesitating costs real money.
- If you feel ashamed: use anonymous initial adviceMany social advice centres and Verbraucherzentralen (consumer advice centres) offer a first, anonymous assessment before any office is contacted at all.
Deadlines
- Non-take-up is not a marginal phenomenon: depending on the estimate, according to several compiled secondary sources around 35–40 % of those entitled to basic income support (SGB II) do not apply; for basic income support in old age (SGB XII), a 2019 DIW study estimated non-take-up at around 60 % of those entitled. The two figures come from different sources and years and should not be equated.
- Shame is no reason to forgo a benefit to which you have a statutory entitlement – social benefits are not charity, but entitlements regulated by law.
- If you receive only housing benefit or child supplement instead of the basic income support you are actually entitled to because that seems "less stigmatising", you may forgo additional benefits you are entitled to (education package, exemption from co-payments) – a counselling session clarifies what is actually more favourable.
- Owners of a home they live in themselves can also be entitled; forgoing a claim "because I have a house" is often based on a mistake about protected assets.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Why entitlements are not claimed
Research on non-take-up names four recurring reasons: ignorance of one's own entitlement, a benefit level perceived as too low in relation to the effort, fear of stigma and the perceived complexity of the procedure. These factors often work together and reinforce one another.
The figures: inconsistent and to be read with caution
A fundamental DIW study (Buslei, Geyer, Haan, Harnisch, DIW Wochenbericht 49/2019) put non-take-up of basic income support in old age at around 60 % of those entitled, or about 625,000 private households – referring to the survey year of the underlying data, not to the current legal position in 2026. For basic income support (SGB II), various secondary sources (including analyses to which the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung and specialist publications refer) circulate estimates between around 35 % and, in individual estimates, up to 55 % of those entitled. No single, current official figure for 2026 could be found in the course of this research; the percentages given are therefore expressly to be understood as estimates with a range and not as an officially determined rate.
Practical consequence for advice work
Because hidden poverty by definition does not appear in benefit receipt statistics, classic official communication hardly reaches those affected. In advisory practice, outreach, low-threshold contact (e.g. via welfare associations, seniors' meeting places, food banks) has proved more effective than purely informational offers from the authorities themselves.
A question about your situation that this page does not answer? Write to us or use the contact form – we will tell you which office is responsible and what to bring. Free of charge, without individual legal advice.