welfare
welfareRefers to the well-being of individuals or groups and, by implication, those measures which can help to ensure levels of well-being through provision of education, health services, managed housing, and social security benefits. Thus where the state takes responsibility for such measures we can speak of a welfare state.
More recently, the term welfare has come to be associated specifically with means-tested benefits provided by some states to alleviate destitution. This use of the term is current in the USA, but is also used elsewhere. Due to the negative connotations often attached to means-tested benefit receipt this can confusingly result in formulations which are apparently the reverse of those strictly implied by the term welfare, such as welfare-dependent. The use of welfare to imply social security benefits rather than a wider range of provision can also be found in the phrase ‘welfare rights’, which...
[The entire page is 796 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Oxford University Press Titles
