Welfare

Welfare may refer to:

Philosophy

• Well-being (happiness, prosperity, or flourishing) of a person or group
• Utility in utilitarianism
• Value in value theory

Economics

• Utility, a general term for individual well-being in economics and decision theory
  • Decision utilities, utilities as revealed by human behavior under the assumption of rationality
  • Economic surplus, the total economic benefit or gains from trade provided for society
• Social welfare function, a function that aggregates individual welfares to create an overall social welfare
  • Social choice theory, the study of welfare aggregation
• Welfare economics, the study of social well-being

Government-run public aid

• Welfare spending, government intervention meant to provide a minimal level of well-being and social support for all citizens
• Welfare state, the concept of a government playing a key role in individual economic and social well-being

People

• Henry Welfare, (1888-1966) English footballer
• Michael Welfare (Wohlfahrt), (1687-1741) American religious leader
• Sue Welfare, (born 1963) English writer

Other uses

• Welfare (film), a 1975 film by Frederick Wiseman
• HMS Welfare, the name of two ships of the Royal Navy, and one planned ship

See also

• Animal welfare, the quality of life or well-being of animals
• Corporate welfare, term describing the bestowal of benefits upon corporations by government
• Welfare fraud, intentional misuse of welfare programs by providing false information
• Welfare queen, a pejorative term for a person accused of collecting excess welfare payments