Welfare spending

Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet <a href="/facts/Basic_needs/UWhz2Ham">basic human needs</a> such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to <a href="/facts/Social_insurance/0Vf4vkL1">social insurance</a> programs which provide support only to those who have previously contributed (e.g. <a href="/facts/Pension/7oAQS2wN">pensions</a>), as opposed to social assistance programs which provide support on the basis of need alone (e.g. most disability benefits). The <a href="/facts/International_Labour_Organization/Lek9y8b6">International Labour Organization</a> defines social security as covering <a href="/facts/Old_age_pension/7oAQS2wN">support for those in old age</a>, <a href="/facts/Child_benefit/m9CoEE7G">support for the maintenance of children</a>, <a href="/facts/Universal_healthcare/pT6kLbAW">medical treatment</a>, <a href="/facts/Parental_leave/DIns43dB">parental</a> and <a href="/facts/Sick_leave/rAFpbYAk">sick leave</a>, <a href="/facts/Unemployment_benefits/rCzFFgmQ">unemployment</a> and <a href="/facts/Disability_benefits/c47Q4k2c">disability benefits</a>, and <a href="/facts/Workers%2527_compensation/avDNLtY7">support for sufferers</a> of <a href="/facts/Occupational_injury/jJ7tHUMf">occupational injury</a>.
More broadly, welfare may also encompass efforts to provide a basic level of <a href="/facts/Well-being/h1dsU4VU">well-being</a> through <a href="/facts/Subsidy/W9lLudyn">subsidized</a> social services such as <a href="/facts/Universal_healthcare/pT6kLbAW">healthcare</a>, <a href="/facts/Free_education/fwmug5rJ">education</a>, infrastructure, <a href="/facts/Vocational_training/vIDzdCs1">vocational training</a>, and public housing. In a <a href="/facts/Welfare_state/JR15sKL1">welfare state</a>, the state assumes responsibility for the health, education, infrastructure and welfare of society, providing a range of social services such as those described.
Some historians view systems of codified <a href="/facts/Almsgiving/DCkr5ELM">almsgiving</a>, like the zakat policy of the seventh century (634 CE) <a href="/facts/Rashidun_Caliphate/UBtWHvDj">Rashidun caliph</a> <a href="/facts/Umar/cIfqERQW">Umar</a>, as early examples of universal government welfare. The first welfare state was <a href="/facts/Imperial_Germany/lwQutJyN">Imperial Germany</a> (1871–1918), where the <a href="/facts/Social_security_in_Germany/CBLx3wGJ">Bismarck government introduced social security</a> in 1889. In the early 20th century, the United Kingdom introduced social security around 1913, and adopted the welfare state with the <a href="/facts/National_Insurance_Act_1946/w3U87XsC">National Insurance Act 1946</a>, during the <a href="/facts/Clement_Attlee/2rjvQYSN">Attlee government</a> (1944–1951). In the countries of western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, social welfare is mainly provided by the government out of the national <a href="/facts/Tax_revenue/6sTDzu0k">tax revenues</a>, and to a lesser extent by <a href="/facts/NGO/qxQSsxsI">non-government organizations</a> (NGOs), and charities (social and religious). A <a href="/facts/Right_to_social_security/nGQGJIHT">right to social security</a> and <a href="/facts/Right_to_an_adequate_standard_of_living/NJFtwl5Q">an adequate standard of living</a> is asserted in Articles 22 and 25 of the <a href="/facts/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights/8hsauJsB">Universal Declaration of Human Rights</a>.

Welfare spending open-in-new

Welfare spending