welfare

n.

1. 1. Health, happiness, and good fortune; well-being.
   2. Prosperity.
2. Welfare work.
3. 1. Financial or other aid provided, especially by the government, to people in need.
   2. Corporate welfare.

idiom:

on welfare

1. Receiving regular assistance from the government or private agencies because of need.

[Middle English, from wel faren, to fare well, from Old English wel faran : wel, well; see well² + faran, to get along; see fare.]

noun

1. A state of health, happiness, and prospering: prosperity, weal¹, well-being. See better/worse.
2. Assistance, especially money, food, and other necessities, given to the needy or dispossessed: aid, dole, handout, public assistance, relief. See help/harm/harmless.

While welfare might be equated with well-being, within human geography it refers mostly to factors within the control of societies: environmental quality, security, and access to commodities and services. It therefore incorporates income, standard of living, housing, employment, and access to educational, health and social services.

Welfare capitalism is the provision of welfare by corporations, such as Standard Oil and Du Pont, seeking to foster loyalty among the workforce.

Welfare geography studies inequalities in social well-being and social justice, looking at the areal differentiation and spatial organization of human activity from the point of view of the welfare of the people involved: who gets what, where, and why?

Welfare geography developed, in part, in response to what was seen as the rather ‘bloodless’, narrowly economic preoccupations of the quantitative revolution, and focuses on those factors which affect the quality of human life: crime/lack of crime, poverty/wealth, housing/ homelessness, and the provision/lack of educational, health, leisure, and social services.

There are three broad lines of enquiry. The first is to identify inequality in the distribution of any of the welfare indicators listed above. This provides a base from which to evaluate the impact of past or proposed changes. From this, the second aim is an attempt to explain these inequalities. Current interpretations include explanations which link inequality with the mode of production; it is argued that uneven development is an inevitable consequence of capitalism, while recognizing that inequalities of a less extreme spatial expression also arise under socialism. Other explanations show how the location of services benefits some and disadvantages others. The third aim is to propose measures which will bring about a fairer distribution of resources and opportunities. See also critical geographies, territorial justice.

For more information on welfare, visit Britannica.com.

A concept that has frequently taken the place of utility in political thought, with the idea that the aim of social betterment should be to maximize the welfare of the population. Problems of comparison, measurement, and aggregation dog the notion, and different conceptions of what amounts to genuine welfare abound. See also preference, capabilities.

This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Government benefits distributed to impoverished persons to enable them to maintain a minimum standard of well-being.

Providing welfare benefits to poor people has been controversial throughout U.S. history. Since the colonial period, government welfare policy has reflected the belief that the indigent are responsible for their poverty, leading to the principle that governmental benefits are a privilege and not a right. Until the Great Depression of the 1930s, state and local governments bore some responsibility for providing assistance to the poor. Generally, such assistance was minimal at best, with church and volunteer agencies providing the bulk of any aid.

The New Deal policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt included new federal initiatives to help those in poverty. With millions of people unemployed during the 1930s economic depression, welfare assistance was beyond the financial resources of the states. Therefore, the federal government provided funds either directly to recipients or to the states for maintaining a minimum standard of living.

Between 1935 and 1996, federal programs were established that provided additional welfare benefits, including medical care ( Medicaid), public housing, food stamps, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). By the 1960s, however, criticism began to grow that these programs had created a "culture of dependency," which discouraged people from leaving the welfare rolls and finding employment. Defenders of public welfare benefits acknowledged that the system was imperfect, noting the financial disincentives associated with taking a low-paying job and losing the array of benefits, especially medical care. However, defenders of the system pointed out that millions of children are the prime beneficiaries of welfare assistance, and that removing adults from welfare affects these children.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the criticism of public welfare escalated dramatically. Some states began to experiment with programs that required welfare recipients to find work within a specified period of time, after which welfare benefits would cease. Job training and child care are important components of such programs and proponents of such "workfare" programs acknowledged that this approach saves little money in the short term. They contended, however, that workfare would reduce welfare costs and move people away from government dependency over the long term.

These state efforts paved the way for radical changes in federal welfare law. On August 22, 1996, President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (popularly known as the Welfare Reform Act), a bill passed by the Republican-controlled Congress. The act eliminated welfare programs, placed permanent ceilings on the amount of federal funding for welfare, and gave each state a block grant of money to help run its welfare programs. The law also directs each state legislature to come up with a new welfare plan that meets new federal criteria. Under the 1996 law, federal funds can be used only to provide a total of five years of aid in a lifetime to a family. These and other provisions radically transformed welfare law and welfare programs.

Federal Social Security Programs

Until the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, the federal government financed the three major welfare programs in the country through the Social Security Act of 1935 (42 U.S.C.A. § 301 et seq.): Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). The 1996 law abolished the AFDC program. These programs are in addition to the benefits available to the aged, disabled, and unemployed workers and their dependents. Unlike the benefits based on the employment record of a worker, welfare benefits are distributed to people who demonstrate eligibility by establishing financial need.

Supplemental Security Income

Indigent persons who are aged or disabled receive monthly checks through the SSI program to help provide them with a minimum standard of living. In 1974 SSI assumed the responsibility for three separate plans previously administered by the states for these recipients. Funds are taken from the U.S. Treasury to provide monthly benefits at a standard rate nationwide. Where state funds already supply such benefits, they supplement the amount provided by the federal government.

The creation of the SSI program meant that applicants had to meet the same standards of eligibility in every state. Applicants must prove they are residents and citizens of the United States. The 1996 Welfare Reform Act cut billions of dollars of aid for legal aliens, and completely excluded legal aliens from receiving SSI benefits. No new noncitizens could be added to the program after the date of enactment, and all legal aliens who were receiving SSI benefits will eventually be removed from the rolls, unless they met one of the law's exceptions. A recipient will not receive benefits for any full month that he is not living within the fifty states or the District of Columbia. Inmates in a public institution cannot collect SSI unless they reside in a community-run group home with a maximum of sixteen residents.

The passage of the Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-221), made a significant change in the basic philosophy of the SSI program. Beginning on the date of enactment (March 29, 1996), new applicants for SSI disability benefits are not eligible for benefits if drug addiction or alcoholism is a material factor in their disability. Unless they can qualify on some other medical basis, they cannot receive disability benefits. Previously, if a person had a medical condition that prevented them from working, he was disabled for SSI purposes, regardless of the cause of the disability.

All persons who are otherwise qualified must show that their incomes are below the levels prescribed by federal law and that they have no assets that can be used for their support. Various rules regulate the calculation of an applicant's income. A person need not be totally devoid of assets in order to receive benefits. A home, for example, does not count as an asset, and the government does not impose liens (charges against property to secure the payment of a debt) against the homes of recipients of SSI benefits.

Medicaid

The largest government welfare program that provides benefits other than money for indigent persons is Medicaid. Medicaid was enacted in 1965 as an amendment to the Social Security Act of 1935, (Title XIX, 42 U.S.C.A. 1396). A state receives federal money if it furnishes additional financing and administers a medical program for the poor that satisfies federal standards. A state can supplement federal benefits with its own funds. Medicaid is designed to make private medical care available to impoverished people. As long as their procedures are reasonable, states can establish their own methods of determining a Medicaid applicant's income and resources and whether the applicant qualifies for aid.

Prior to the abolition of the AFDC program in the 1996 reform law, children and parents who received AFDC automatically qualified for Medicaid. The 1996 law provides Medicaid coverage to all families that meet their state's July 1996 AFDC income and asset standards. When a family becomes ineligible for Medicaid coverage due to increased earnings or child support income, it becomes eligible for transitional Medicaid, regardless of whether the family received assistance under the block grant program that has replaced AFDC.

As with SSI and other programs, however, the 1996 law denies Medicaid eligibility to most legal immigrants. Except for refugees, those who have claimed political asylum, and a few other categories, immigrants entering the United States are ineligible for Medicaid for five years, with states having the option of extending this ban for a longer period. Immigrants who had been receiving Medicaid as a result of receiving SSI are not eligible for Medicaid once their SSI benefits are cut off.

Medicaid furnishes at least five general categories of treatment, including inpatient hospital service, outpatient hospital services, laboratory and x-ray services, skilled nursing home services, and physicians' services. Generally each of these services is available to treat conditions that cause acute suffering, endanger life, result in illness or infirmity, interfere with the capacity for normal activity, or present a significant handicap. In addition, all states provide eye and dental care and prescription drugs. Almost all states provide physical therapy, hospice care, and rehabilitative services.

Medicaid is a "vendor" plan because payment is made directly to the vendor (the person or entity which provides the services) rather than to the patient. Only approved nursing homes, physicians, and other providers of medical care are entitled to receive Medicaid payments for their services. Since the early 1970s, rising medical costs have placed financial pressures on the Medicaid program. Consequently, health care providers are not fully reimbursed for the services they provide to Medicaid patients. When Medicaid began, persons who were eligible had the right to select their own doctors, hospitals, or other medical facilities. Because of skyrocketing medical expenditures, almost all states have received waivers from the federal government concerning the choice of physician.

Aid to Families with Dependent Children

Prior to 1996, the most controversial component of the welfare system was the AFDC program. AFDC was established by Congress to ensure the welfare and protection of needy dependent children by providing them and a custodial relative with basic necessities within the framework of the family relationship. It was abolished in the 1996 welfare reform act, replaced by block grants to the states to fund welfare under new sets of rules and requirements. The block grant, which is entitled the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) block grant, converts AFDC to fixed funding. Under TANF, states receive a fixed level of resources for income support and work programs based on what they spent on these programs in 1994, without regard to subsequent changes in the level of need in a state.

Every state was required to establish an AFDC system within broad federal guidelines, with the federal government providing funds for the state programs. The state plan had to be applied uniformly throughout the state, with the state providing some funding itself and designating one state agency to administer the program. Even though the 1996 law eliminated AFDC, many of the general categories and definitions contained in state-AFDC statutes and regulations will likely remain relevant in new state welfare program laws for determining eligibility.

A child is classified "dependent" if he has no parental support or care because of the death of a parent, the abandonment by a parent, or the physical or mental incapacity of a parent to fulfill the responsibilities to a child. Once a child qualifies as dependent under these standards, the state agency will decide whether the child is "needy." Each state establishes a minimum income level of subsistence. If the income of a child and the members of his family are below this level, these individuals are deemed needy. All sources of income actually received by the family are considered, as well as the value of all the family's assets.

Under the old AFDC system, each state fashioned exemptions depending upon the circumstances of the case. For example, a state might allow a portion of Social Security benefits received because of the death of a parent to be saved for the child's future education.

Once the state agency determines the income of members of a family and decides whether their assets are sufficient to meet their needs, it compares their income to the standard of need applied in that state. The standard of need is based on the number of family members, sometimes up to a specific maximum. Under the old law, if the family's income was inadequate to provide what the state considered a minimum amount for the family's needs, AFDC benefits were issued. Under the 1996 law, there is no explicit requirement that the families get cash aid, making it possible for the states to provide vouchers or services rather than cash help. The law specifically eliminates the promise of help and eliminates individual entitlement to aid under federal law. In addition, if a state runs out of block grant funds for the year, and does not provide state funds, it can place new applicants on waiting lists. Under the old law, states received federal funds on an open-ended, entitlement basis.

The 1996 law placed a yearly limit of $16.4 billion nationally on federal welfare spending that replaced AFDC and several other programs, with no provision to raise the limit in the future. Within this financial framework, the states have greater autonomy in determining how to spend the funds on welfare. However, the 1996 law imposed several important changes in national welfare policy.

The 1996 law directs the states to increase the number of persons on welfare who work. By 2002, a minimum of half the families receiving public assistance must have an adult working a minimum of thirty hours per week. If states do not meet these requirements, they can be penalized by losing a percentage of their TANF block grants. Adults cannot be penalized for failure to meet work requirements if their failure is based on the inability to find or afford child care for a child under the age of six. Otherwise, if an adult recipient refuses to participate in a work program, states must reduce the family's assistance by a pro rata amount. States, however, have the option of increasing this penalty, including the termination of assistance to the entire family. Adults can also lose Medicaid as well as cash aid.

One of the criticisms of the AFDC program was that it allowed teenage mothers to set up independent living arrangements and receive AFDC. The 1996 law directs that minor parents can only receive TANF block grant funds if they are living at home or in another adult-supervised setting. They must attend high school or an alternative educational or training program as soon as their child is at least twelve weeks old.

The most radical change in abolishing AFDC and moving to the TANF block grants was the limitation on families receiving TANF funds. Federal funds can only be used to provide a total of five years of aid in a lifetime to a family. The law provides that states may give hardship exemptions of up to twenty percent of their average monthly caseload. However, the law also permits states to set limits shorter than five years.

A state welfare assistance plan must set forth objective criteria for the delivery of benefits and for fair and equitable treatment, as well as how the state will provide opportunities for recipients to appeal decisions against them. While the law and regulations governing AFDC were explicit regarding appeal rights, the 1996 law is more general in this area, leaving each state to devise due process protections in state law.

Food and Food Stamps

The federal government provides food to poor people through several types of programs, including nutrition programs, and, most importantly, the Food Stamp program.

The federal government sponsors special nutrition plans to promote child welfare. Such programs, including the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), provide federal grants of money and food to nonprofit elementary and secondary schools and to child-care institutions so that they can serve milk, well-balanced meals, and snacks to the children. Additional money is provided so that free or reduced-price food and milk can be given to children of needy families. These programs provide lunch and breakfast to children in public and private nonprofit schools. Pregnant and nursing mothers and their children up to age four who live in areas that have large numbers of people who are considered nutritional risks are eligible for a special program that supplies food supplements.

The Food Stamp program, as provided by the Federal Food Stamp Act of 1964, is the most significant food plan in the United States. Needy individuals or households obtain food stamps (or official coupons) that can be exchanged like money at authorized stores. Some states create electronic banking accounts for welfare benefits, including food stamps, that allow a person to purchase food using an electronic bank card. The person's account is debited the amount of the cash value of the stamps when he purchases food at a store.

The federal government pays for the amount of the benefit received, and the states pay the costs of determining eligibility and distributing the stamps. The value of the food stamp allotment that state agencies are authorized to issue is based on the "thrifty food plan," a low-cost food budget, reduced by an amount equal to thirty per cent of the household income. Prior to 1996, poor families with children that spent more than fifty per cent of their income for housing would have had their excess shelter costs included in calculating the amount of food stamps received. The 1996 law placed a maximum amount for the food stamp deduction for shelter costs.

Public Housing

Since the late 1930s, the federal government has provided funds to build public housing for the poor. Almost all programs rely on local public housing agencies created by state law or by a local government unit authorized by the state. Contracts between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the local agency provide the means for the transfer of the federal funds.

Applicants for public housing must meet income requirements. So as not to penalize people for improving their financial condition, tenants usually can continue to live in public housing after they surpass the income level that admitted them to the project. As the tenant's income increases, she might be charged a higher rent so that the rent can be kept lower for other tenants with greater need. Federal law limits the percentage of a tenant's income that can be charged for rent in low-income housing projects.

Welfare Rights

With the development of the welfare system, the courts have been called on to resolve disputes involving welfare recipients and government agencies. The most important case concerning the scope of welfare rights is Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 90 S. Ct. 1153, 25 L. Ed. 2d 491 (1970). In Dandridge, a California law set an upper limit on the amount of welfare benefits that a family could receive, preventing larger families from receiving the same amount per person as smaller families. The Court found that states might reasonably theorize that large families can take advantage of economies unavailable to smaller households. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not require a state to choose between resolving every aspect of a problem and not resolving the problem at all, as long as the state's action is reasonably related to the goal of the legislation and free of invidious discrimination.

See: Health Care Law; Health Insurance; Homeless Person; Social Security.

Government-provided support for those unable to support themselves. In the United States, it is undertaken by various federal, state, and local agencies under the auspices of different programs, the best known of which are Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and food stamps.

IN BRIEF: Governmental provision of economic assistance to persons in need. Also: A contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous.

The object of government is the welfare of the people. — Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919).

Quotes:

"And having looked to government for bread, on the very first scarcity they will turn and bite the hand that fed them. To avoid that evil, government will redouble the causes of it; and then it will become inveterate and incurable." - Edmund Burke

"Religion was nearly dead because there was no longer real belief in future life; but something was struggling to take its place -- service -- social service -- the ants creed, the bees creed." - John Galsworthy

"Mothers born on relief have their babies on relief. Nothingness, truly, seems to be the condition of these New York people. They are nomads going from one rooming house to another, looking for a toilet that functions." - Elizabeth Hardwick

"A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization." - Samuel Johnson

"Social Security is a government program with a constituency made up of the old, the near old and those who hope or fear to grow old. After 215 years of trying, we have finally discovered a special interest that includes 100 percent of the population. Now we can vote ourselves rich." - P. J. O'Rourke

"Public money is like holy water; everyone helps himself to it." - Italian Proverb

See more famous quotes about Welfare

Dansk (Danish)
n. - velfærd, lykke, forsorg

idioms:

• welfare state    velfærdsstat
• welfare work    velfærdsarbejde, frivilligt arbejde

Nederlands (Dutch)
welzijn, welzijnswerk, sociale bijstand

Français (French)
n. - législation sociale, travail social, (gén) bien-être, intérêt, assistance sociale, (US) aide sociale

idioms:

• welfare state    État providence, protection sociale
• welfare work    assistance sociale

Deutsch (German)
n. - Wohl, Wohlfahrt, Sozialhilfe

idioms:

• welfare state    Wohlfahrtsstaat
• welfare work    Sozialwesen, Sozialarbeit

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ευημερία, ευπραγία, ευτυχία, κοινωνική πρόνοια, κοινωνική αντίληψη
attrib. - κοινωνικής πρόνοιας, κοινωνικής αντίληψης

idioms:

• welfare state    κράτος κοινωνικής πρόνοιας
• welfare work    κοινωνική αρωγή

Italiano (Italian)
benessere, previdenza sociale, assistenza pubblica, assistenza sociale

idioms:

• welfare state    stato assistenziale
• welfare work    assistenza sociale

Português (Portuguese)
n. - bem-estar (m), felicidade (f)
attrib. - usado para modificar outro nome, como adjetivo

idioms:

• welfare state    estado onde bens sociais são proporcionados aos cidadãos
• welfare work    trabalho social (m)

Русский (Russian)
благосостояние, работа по улучшению быта (неимущих и т.д.), социальное обеспечение, государственное пособие

idioms:

• welfare state    "государство всеобщего благосостояния"
• welfare work    работа по улучшению быта (неимущих и т.д.)

Español (Spanish)
n. - bienestar, prosperidad, felicidad

idioms:

• welfare state    estado que garantiza el bienestar social, estado benefactor
• welfare work    asistencia social, obra de asistencia social

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - välfärd, välstånd, välgång
attr. - välfärds-

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
福利, 幸福, 安宁

idioms:

• welfare state    福利国家
• welfare work    福利事业, 福利工作

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 福利, 幸福, 安寧

idioms:

• welfare state    福利國家
• welfare work    福利事業, 福利工作

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 복지, 복지 사업

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 福祉, 幸福, 生活保護, 福祉事業

idioms:

• welfare state    福祉国家
• welfare work    福祉事業

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) خير, صالح, سعادة, رفاهه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮רווחה, אושר, טובה, עזרה סוציאלית, סעד, בריאות, שגשוג‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.