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welfare state

welfare state

34 3.9
A government system that provides health care, housing, and money to people who need help
  • noun
  • /ˈwɛlˌfɛr steɪt/
translation icon : estado del bienestar
  • Low birthrates threaten not only the viability of the developed world's welfare states but also the very survival of developed countries.
  • create a welfare state
  • build a welfare state
  • a modern welfare state

In other words, all, nearly all the welfare states are facing this kind of fiscal crisis.

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Examples

  • The government implemented a new program to strengthen the welfare state and support low-income families.

  • And clearly our welfare state is faced with challenges.

  • In the absence of a global welfare state, there are many things that individual states have to do.

    Academic text (2011)
  • Britain, like Sweden, is a welfare state with a national health care system.

    Academic text (1993)
  • It's time to replace the assumptions of the welfare state and help reform the welfare system.

    Academic text (1992)
  • There are also external pressures on the future development of the Danish welfare state.

    Academic text (1996)
  • The overall goal of the modern welfare state has been to unite economic prosperity with redistributive social justice.

    Academic text (1996)
  • The trauma of hyperinflation only deepened Brazil's commitment to building a comprehensive welfare state.

    Academic text (2012)
  • In many countries, the welfare state provides essential services like healthcare and education to its citizens.

  • Debates about the future of the welfare state often focus on funding and its impact on the economy.

Synonyms

nanny state
vswelfare state
  • Literature
8 7.7

A government that protects people too much and limits their choices

focuses on government care programs like public health housing pensions and unemployment aid
welfarism
vswelfare state
  • Formal
1 7.1

A system in which the government gives money or services to help people

is the system where government directly runs programs for citizens' health and income

Antonyms

laissez-faire
  • Formal
7 8.7

Allowing businesses to operate with little government control

1 4.1

A way of running an economy that lets businesses compete with little government control

How Libertarian

libertopian society
  • Jargon
9.9
liberalism
78 5.8
welfare state
34 3.9

Surface Forms

welfare state singular

Morphology

welfare + state

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'welfare' (government provision of aid) with 'state' (nation/government), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer a government system providing social support. This noun+noun composition is cross-linguistically common (e.g., Spanish 'estado de bienestar', French 'État-providence') and follows straightforward English compounding patterns.

Etymology

The term welfare state comes from the idea of a government that cares for people's well-being: welfare means well-being and state means the government. So a welfare state is a government that provides health care, help with housing, money for older people and support if people lose their jobs to meet their 'basic needs'.