The well-being of a person or entity. Usually used to describe a stipend given out by a federal government to aid those who live below the threshold of certain socioeconomic conditions.
Creates very little incentive to work, especially when minimum wage jobs end up providing less money than the welfare check does.

The idea behind welfare is that is it is a system run by the government to help support people that are down on their luck, unable to support themselves for even basic needs. To make sure that people, no matter what horrible situation occurs, have at least shelter and food.

The current system in the United States doesn't seem to work too well, however. People who have children while on welfare will get more money, obviously to help support the new child. People often are in situations where there's no obvious way out of their poverty, and few programs are run to help educate them, to give them skills to be productive. Even worse, the program is often set up so that working will reduce or eliminate the benefits, so that most basic jobs available, such as a part-time job in a fast food place, will result in them having LESS money available - and how many people would take a job just to have less money?

There is also a large amount of feeling by many people that everyone on welfare is simply a leech, who could easily get a decent job and work to provide for themselves, but are just too lazy to. Others don't even believe in a safety net, that everyone should provide for themselves, and if they can't do it, then they can freeze or starve to death, and it's all good.

The income you receive from welfare covers just the basics. While it's enough to stay alive, it 's certainly not enough to do fun things. To people saying they're lazy wasters I always ask them : 'If the life appeals to you so much, why don't you join them ?' Most of them shut up then.

But there's more... Being on welfare, you receive an small income, yet our society encourages everyone to consume, consume, consume...

Everywhere you look, you see advertising, persuading you to buy stuff. You feel unhappy because your need to consume remains unsatisfied

Some day, while looking into the paper, you stumble upon advertisements about loans (or you see some commercial on tv about a store that sells stuff on credit)... Loans even you can get with your tiny welfare -income.

So you get your loan and buy yourself a tv set... In most cases being on welfare means you didn't get a proper education, so you probably didn't read the reposession small print well hidden in the conditions of the loan.

After a few months you find out the truth the hard way: this loan wasn't the best idea you came up with. Or still worse... you still don't get it and you buy more stuff on credit (perhaps a 'sky television dish').

You try to keep up the downpayments but fail because of your limited income...

There's only one way to continue the downpayments... yes, loan again (probably at a more expensive rate) to pay the first loan.

Then (perhaps) you realize you're digging a hole, a hole that gets deeper and deeper, a hole that will be used to burry you.

Appliances for loans should be investigated much better .

Some other thing I hear (not only in writeups here) is that welfare discourages people to work for minimum wages. I guess that says a lot about those wages !

It seems to me that, at least in the United States, instead of the welfare system we use, where the government simply gives money to people, a better system would be to give 0% interest loans to them.

They would be required to pay back the loan within a set period of time, and the amount of the loan would be determined by some sort of investigative board that examined the person's situation and set a dollar amount to it.

This system would force people who are on welfare to look for an get jobs and to take responsibility for themselves. Taxpayers would also benefit, because they would get their money back after time ( and, at the same time, the economy benefits because welfare users are forced to get jobs ), rather than simply giving it away.

Wel"fare` (?), n. [Well + fare to go, to proceed, to happen.]

Well-doing or well-being in any respect; the enjoyment of health and the common blessings of life; exemption from any evil or calamity; prosperity; happiness.

How to study for the people's welfare. Shak.

In whose deep eyes Men read the welfare of the times to come. Emerson.

 

© Webster 1913.