social welfare

noun

: organized public or private social services for the assistance of disadvantaged groups
specifically : social work

Examples of social welfare in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Other social welfare programs have safety valves to protect weak, incapacitated or disabled clients from being exploited by people in power. Carol Marbin Miller, Miami Herald, 2 Apr. 2026 President Emmanuel Macron’s government in France, for example, has been periodically threatened by popular protest against cuts in social welfare, especially retirement benefits. John Rennie Short, The Conversation, 31 Mar. 2026 Oil wealth therefore enables the state to act as the primary allocator of resources through public-sector employment, infrastructure investment, subsidies, and social welfare benefits. Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Mar. 2026 Measures to support consumption have focused on trade-in subsidies and incremental increases to social welfare. Eunice Yoon,evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 23 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for social welfare

Word History

First Known Use

1912, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of social welfare was in 1912

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Cite this Entry

“Social welfare.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20welfare. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.

Medical Definition

social welfare

noun
social wel·​fare -ˈwel-ˌfa(ə)r, -ˌfe(ə)r How to pronounce social welfare (audio)
: organized public or private social services for the assistance of disadvantaged groups
specifically : social work

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