welfare state

noun

Updated on: 16 Apr 2018

Definition of welfare state

1 : a social system based on the assumption by a political state of primary responsibility for the individual and social welfare of its citizens

2 : a nation or state characterized by the operation of the welfare state system

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See welfare state defined for kids

Examples of welfare state in a Sentence

supporters of the welfare state

Recent Examples of welfare state from the Web

Many of the original enemies of the American welfare state were business owners who treated their employees quite well.

— eric levitz, Daily Intelligencer, "Amazon Should Not Be in Charge of Solving Our Health-Care Crisis," 30 Jan. 2018
Causes that were once Mr. Ryan’s signature fights — an exploding budget deficit, soaring Medicare and Social Security spending and an entrenched welfare state — are on nobody’s must-do list.

— sheryl gay stolberg, New York Times, "Once Outspoken, Paul Ryan Wields His Speaker’s Gavel Gingerly," 5 Mar. 2018
So did the late 19th- and early 20th-century statesmen who laid the foundations of Western welfare states, and anti-regime movements behind the Iron Curtain, such as Solidarity, in the 1980s.

— The Economist, "Political insurgentsLearning from Europe’s populists," 3 Feb. 2018
Amidst the dubious triumph of neoliberalism, the welfare state was not the only casualty — a commitment to building and maintaining the public sphere was also lost.

— jacob silverman, Longreads, "The Billionaire Philanthropist," 13 Mar. 2018
Donald Trump’s latest budget proposal does not shrink the American welfare state.

— sarah jones, New Republic, "The GOP’s Class-War Budget," 13 Feb. 2018
Some parts of the welfare state could also be handed over.

— miranda green, Newsweek, "The Scottish Referendum Could Spell the End of the U.K.," 17 July 2014
There’s a large and growing populist distrust of capitalism on the right (Trumpists who oppose free-trade treaties) and the left (Sanders-style socialists who want to expand the welfare state and regulate corporations).

— jeet heer, The New Republic, "The Myth of the Times’ Intellectual Diversity," 1 Mar. 2018
In all of them, the change was sold as a way to encourage poor Americans to get off their backsides, get a job and prosper on their own — free of the clutches of the welfare state.

— eduardo porter, New York Times, "Making Medicaid a Tool for Moral Education May Let Some Die," 16 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'welfare state.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of welfare state

1894

WELFARE STATE Defined for English Language Learners

welfare state

noun

Definition of welfare state for English Language Learners

: a social system in which a government is responsible for the economic and social welfare of its citizens and has policies to provide free health care, money for people without jobs, etc.; also : a country that has such a system