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This article is about financial assistance paid by government organizations. For other uses of term welfare, see welfare.

For the means-tested benefit in the United Kingdom, see Income Support.

Welfare is financial assistance paid by taxpayers to people who do not support themselves. Some welfare is general, while specific and can only be invoked under certain circumstances, such as a scholarship. Welfare payments can be made to individuals or to companies or entities--these latter payments are often considered corporate welfare. Image File history File links Gnome-globe. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Merge-arrows. ... Social welfare redirects here. ... Income Support is an income-related benefit in the United Kingdom for people who are on a low income. ... This article is about scholarship (noun) and scholarship as a form of financial aid. ... The term company may refer to a separate legal entity, as in English law, or may simply refer to a business, as is the common use in the United States. ... Corporate welfare is a pejorative term, first coined by Ralph Nader in 1956, describing a governments bestowal of grants and/or tax breaks on corporations or other special favorable treatment from the government. ...

Individuals may apply for welfare due to disability, lack of education or job training, a low demand for unskilled labor, substance abuse, or an unwillingness to work. Assistance may also take the form of other relief, such as tax credits for working mothers. Look up disability in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Also see Alcoholism and Drug addiction. ... Within the Australian, Canadian, United Kingdom, and United States tax systems, a tax credit is an item which is treated as a payment already made towards taxes owed. ...

Welfare is known by a variety of names in different countries, all with the avowed purpose of providing an economic or social safety net for disadvantaged members of society. Almost all developed nations provide some kind of safety net of this kind; nations where such programs are especially prominent are known as welfare states. The social safety net is a term used to describe a collection of services provided by the state (such as welfare, universal healthcare, homeless shelters, and perhaps various subsidized services such as transit), which prevent any individual from falling into poverty beyond a certain level. ... A developed country is a country that is technologically advanced and that enjoys a relatively high standard of living. ... There are three main interpretations of the idea of a welfare state: the provision of welfare services by the state. ...

The desired outcome and purpose of welfare varies. For welfare for the non-disabled, the purpose often is to prevent complete destitution. Welfare or assistance for the disabled, in contrast, does not eventually expect non-dependency, and the justification is more philosophical. For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ...

"Corporate welfare," usually in the form of favorable tax policy, is sometimes used in order to provide capital to an industry that the government perceives needs financial assistance in order to survive or to expand, or which the government wishes to support for political or economic purposes. Corporate welfare is a pejorative term, first coined by Ralph Nader in 1956, describing a governments bestowal of grants and/or tax breaks on corporations or other special favorable treatment from the government. ... Not to be confused with capitol. ...

Some of these ideal outcomes and purposes, as well as welfare's effectiveness have been challenged by political lobbies such as those who oppose big government and "forced charity", such as minarchists or libertarians. Big government is a pejorative term generally used by political conservatives or laissez-faire advocates to describe a government which is excessively large or inefficient, or which is inappropriately involved in certain areas of public policy. ... In civics, minarchism, sometimes called minimal statism or small government, is the view that the size, role and influence of government in a free society should be minimal — only large enough to protect the liberty and property of each individual. ... This article is about the political philosophy based on private property rights. ...

The amounts paid to recipients are typically modest, and may fall below the poverty line. Recipients must usually demonstrate a low level of income such as by way of "means testing", or financial hardship, or that they satisfy some other requirement such as childcare responsibilities or disability. Map of countries showing percentage of population who have an income below the national poverty line The poverty line is the level of income below which one cannot afford to purchase all the resources one requires to live. ... Childcare (also written child care[1] and babycare) is the act of caring for and supervising minor children. ...

Those receiving unemployment benefits may also have to regularly demonstrate that they are periodically searching for employment. Some countries assign specific jobs to recipients who must work in these roles in order for welfare payments to continue. In the United States and Canada, such programs are known as workfare. Workfare is an alternative model to conventional Social Welfare systems. ...

Corporate welfare

Main article: Corporate welfare

Corporate welfare is supposed welfare on a larger scale for entities and companies. The term is often pejorative. Corporate welfare is a pejorative term, first coined by Ralph Nader in 1956, describing a governments bestowal of grants and/or tax breaks on corporations or other special favorable treatment from the government. ...

The term was originally coined by Ralph Nader in 1956.^[1][2] The concept of "corporate welfare" creates a satirical association between corporate subsidies and welfare payments to the poor, and implies that corporations are much less needy of such treatment than the poor; as such, the term is usually used by those who oppose such handouts to corporations. One of the questions on the World's Smallest Political Quiz asks the reader whether or not he/she supports ending "corporate welfare"; this is one of the questions used to differentiate between different political ideologies (centrist, liberal, conservative, statist and libertarian).^[3] Ralph Nader (born February 27, 1934) is an American attorney and political activist in the areas of consumer rights, humanitarianism, environmentalism and democratic government. ... A subsidy is generally a monetary grant given by government in support of an activity regarded as being in the public interest. ... Social welfare can be taken to mean the welfare or well-being of a society. ... Worlds Smallest Political Quiz The Worlds Smallest Political Quiz is a 10-question quiz designed as an outreach and educational tool by the Advocates for Self-Government, created by Marshall Fritz. ... In politics, centrism usually refers to the political ideal of promoting moderate policies which land in the middle ground between different political extremes. ... Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of... Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favor tradition and gradual change, where tradition refers to religious, cultural, or nationally defined beliefs and customs. ... Statism is a term to describe an economic system where a government implements a significant degree of centralized economic planning or intervention, as opposed to a system where the overwhelming majority of economic planning occurs at a decentralized level by private individuals in a relatively free market. ... See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ...

Welfare in the United States

Main article: Federal assistance in the United States

See also: Social Security (United States)

Welfare services in the United States have traditionally been more limited than those in European nations. As one author writes, "compared with most other rich capitalist societies, the American welfare state is more market-conforming."^[4] In the United States of America, Federal assistance, also known as federal aid, federal benefits, or federal funds, is defined as any federal program, project, service, and activity provided by the US federal government that directly assists or benefits the American public in the areas of education, health, public safety... Social Security, in the United States, currently refers to the Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... In economics, a capitalist is someone who owns capital, presumably within the economic system of capitalism. ...

Welfare assistance of various kinds is provided in the United States partly by the federal government and partly by state governments. Federal welfare and public assistance spending is provided by federal government agencies, such as the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the US Department of Health and Human Services, through special programs to recipients. A federal government is the common government of a federation. ... For other uses, see State (disambiguation). ... The United States Federal Executive Departments are among the oldest primary units of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States—the Departments of State, War, and the Treasury all being established within a few weeks of each other in 1789. ... The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, often abbreviated HUD, is a Cabinet department of the United States government. ... The United States Department of Health and Human Services, often abbreviated HHS, is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. ... In the United States of America, Federal assistance, also known as federal aid, federal benefits, or federal funds, is defined as any federal program, project, service, and activity provided by the US federal government that directly assists or benefits the American public in the areas of education, health, public safety...

In the United States, personal welfare is normally given to households with children, often headed by single mothers. Since the landmark federal welfare reform act in 1996 (the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act), individual recipients are limited to a lifetime maximum of five years cumulative for receiving federal welfare of all types.^[5] Before 1997, United States personal welfare for households with children was first named Aid to Dependent Children, which was later called Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC).^[6]. It was administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. In 1996-97 as part of welfare reform, AFDC was replaced by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which included more limits on the amount of time an individual or family can receive welfare.^[7] Since 1996, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has largely replaced AFDC as the primary anti-poverty program in the United States^[8]. Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, Pub. ... Aid to Families with Dependent Children is a welfare program administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. ... Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) was the name of a federal assistance program in effect from August 14, 1935 to June 30, 1997, which was administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. ... The United States Department of Health and Human Services, often abbreviated HHS, is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. ... Welfare reform is the name for a policy change in countries with a state-administered social welfare system to reduce dependence on welfare, as demanded by political conservatives. ... Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF, often pronounced TAN-if) is the July 1, 1997, successor to the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, providing cash assistance to indigent American families with dependent children through the United States Department of Health and Human Services. ... The United States federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is a refundable tax credit that reduces or eliminates the taxes that low-income married or single working people pay (such as payroll taxes) and also frequently operates as a wage subsidy for low-income workers. ...

While not termed "welfare" in the USA, there are a variety of other personal transfer payments which are financial assistance programs; examples of such transfer payments are unemployment compensation (which, unlike welfare, is not means-tested and is prepaid by employers before job loss) and tobacco taxes, part of which are disbursed for hospital care for the needy (as well as the general public). Unemployment Compensation is an amount received by a taxpayer, originating from the United States or a State. ... Shredded tobacco leaf for pipe smoking Tobacco can also be pressed into plugs and sliced into flakes Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. ... For the town in the Republic of Ireland, see Hospital, County Limerick. ...

With regard to personal welfare for individuals without children, most U.S. states had been providing welfare or assistance benefits to single adults and childless married couples since the Great Depression, but the number of states doing so declined steeply during the 1990s, and many of the states that still provide such benefits use methods other than cash payments to render the assistance. For example, many California counties currently provide only vouchers. At present, only a few states — New Jersey, Utah and Minnesota among them — still provide cash benefits to poverty-stricken adults who do not have child dependents. These programs were often known officially by such names as Home Relief, General Assistance, or General Relief. Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      A U.S. state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of... For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Capital Saint Paul Largest city Minneapolis Largest metro area Minneapolis-St. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... General Assistance is a term used in the United States to denote welfare programs that benefit adults without dependents (single persons, or less commonly, childless married couples) as opposed to families with children, who receive assistance from the federal program formerly known as Aid to Families with Dependent Children, and...

History of welfare

There is relatively little statistical data on welfare transfer payments until at least the High Middle Ages. In the medieval period and until the Industrial Revolution, the function of welfare payments in Europe was principally achieved through private giving or charity. In those early times there was a much broader group considered in poverty compared to the 21st century. In political science and economics, a transfer payment is a payment of money from a government or any other organization to an individual, a group or another order of government for which no good or service is directly required in return. ... The cathedral Notre Dame de Paris, a significant architectural contribution of the High Middle Ages. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... A Watt steam engine, the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... In modern usage, the practice of charity means the giving of help to those in need. ... A boy from an East Cipinang trash dump slum in Jakarta, Indonesia shows what he found. ...

Early welfare programs included the English Poor Law of 1601, which gave parishes the responsibility for providing welfare payments to the poor^[9]. This system was substantially modified by the nineteenth-century Poor Law Amendment Act, which introduced the system of workhouses. For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... This article deals chiefly with the English Poor Laws covering England and Wales. ... Events February 8 - Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, rebels against Elizabeth I of England - revolt is quickly crushed February 25 - Robert Devereux beheaded Jesuit Matteo Ricci arrives in China Bad harvest in Russia due to rainy summer Dutch troops drive Portuguese from Málaga Battle of Kinsale, Ireland Births... A parish is a type of administrative subdivision. ... The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 In 1832, a royal commission was launched to review the operation of the system. ... Former workhouse at Nantwich, dating from 1780 A workhouse was a place where people who were unable to support themselves could go to live and work. ...

It was predominantly in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that an organized system of state welfare provision was introduced in many countries. Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of Germany, introduced one of the first welfare systems for the working classes. In Great Britain the Liberal government of Henry Campbell-Bannerman and David Lloyd George introduced the National Insurance system in 1911^[10], a system later expanded by Clement Attlee. The United States did not have an organized welfare system until the Great Depression, when emergency relief measures were introduced under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Even then, Roosevelt's New Deal focused predominantly on a programme of providing work and stimulating the economy through public spending on projects, rather than on cash payments. Bismarck redirects here. ... The Chancellor of the German Empire, in German Reichskanzler, meaning Imperial Chancellor was the title of the head of the German gouvernment from 1871 till 1934. ... Look up liberal on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Liberal may refer to: Politics: Liberalism American liberalism, a political trend in the USA Political progressivism, a political ideology that is for change, often associated with liberal movements Liberty, the condition of being free from control or restrictions Liberal Party, members of... Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (7 September 1836 – 22 April 1908) , also known as Andie McDowell, was a British Liberal statesman who served as Prime Minister from December 5, 1905 until resigning due to ill health on April 3, 1908. ... David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, OM, PC (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was a British statesman who was Prime Minister throughout the latter half of World War I and the first four years of the subsequent peace. ... Tax rates around the world Tax revenue as % of GDP Part of the Taxation series        UK Income Tax and National Insurance (2005–2006) UK Income Tax and National Insurance as a % of Salary (2005–2006) National Insurance (NI) is a system of taxes and related social security benefits in the... Year 1911 (MCMXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. ... For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      For other uses, see President of the United States (disambiguation). ... FDR redirects here. ... The New Deal was the title President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to the series of programs he initiated between 1933 and 1938 with the goal of providing relief, recovery, and reform (3 Rs) to the people and economy of the United States during the Great Depression. ... Public finance (government finance) is the field of economics that deals with budgeting the revenues and expenditures of a public sector entity, usually government. ...

In the late twentieth century, a perception grew that existing welfare systems were becoming excessively bureaucratic and inefficient. The United States Social Security system has come under particular criticism, and many political figures, such as George W. Bush, have argued for a more work-based system of welfare provision. Social Security, in the United States, currently refers to the Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the forty-third and current President of the United States of America, originally inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ...

See also

• Poverty
• Financial aid
• Aid
• Welfare fraud
• Welfare trap
• Welfare queen

A boy from an East Cipinang trash dump slum in Jakarta, Indonesia shows what he found. ... Financial aid refers to funding intended to help students pay tuition or other costs, such as room and board, for education at a college, university, or private school. ... Look up Aid in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Welfare fraud refers to various intentional misuses of state welfare systems by witholding information or giving false or inaccurate information. ... The welfare trap is a name for a situation in which taxation and welfare systems create strong incentives for people to stay on social welfare payments. ... Welfare Queen is the term that refers to a woman who collects welfare checks (or excess amounts) through fraud or manipulation. ...

References

1. ^ Nader, Ralph, Cutting Corporate Welfare, 2000
2. ^ Testimony of Ralph Nader before the Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives
3. ^ World's Smallest Political Quiz
4. ^ Noble, Charles, Welfare as We Knew It: A Political History of the American Welfare State
5. ^ Midgley, James. "The United States: Welfare, Work, and Development." International Journal of Social Welfare 10:7 (2000): 284-293.
6. ^ PBS.org, Timeline of National Welfare Reform
7. ^ Temporary Assistance for Needy Families at the Department of Health and Human Services website
8. ^ Congressional Budget Office Analysis
9. ^ The Poor Laws of England at EH.Net
10. ^ Liberal Reforms at BBC Bitesize