Welfare is the provision of a minimal level of wellbeing and social support for all citizens.
In most developed countries, welfare is largely provided by the government, in addition to charities, informal social groups, religious groups, and inter-governmental organizations. In the end, this term replaces "charity" as it was known for thousands of years, being the voluntary act of providing for those who temporarily or permanently could not, and in someWelfare can take a variety of forms, such as monetary payments, subsidies and vouchers, or housing. Welfare can be provided by governments, non-governmental organizations, or a combination of the two. Welfare programs may be funded directly by governments, or in social insurance models, by the members of the Welfare scheme. Welfare systems differ from country to country, but Welfare is commonly provided to individuals who are unemployed, those with illness or disability, the elderly, those with dependent children, and veterans. A person's eligibility for Welfare may also be constrained by means testing or other conditions.
Subsidy Subsidizing a good is one way of redistributing wealth to the poor. It is money that is paid usually by a government to keep the price of a product or service low or to help a business or organization to continue to function. In a budget constraint between all other goods and a subsidized good, the maximum amount of all other goods will remain the same but the budget constraint will shift outward for the subsidized good because the cost of the subsidized good is reduced for the consumer and so they have the ability to consume more of said good. Some people do not want to use subsidies because they want the poor to consume the subsidized good or service in a specific way or because subsidizing goods (such as health care) can lead to an over consumption of the good. Voucher A voucher is like a subsidy that can only be consumed in a specific way like a school voucher or section 8 housing. For instance, families who receive school vouchers may only use them to send their children to schools to help pay tuition costs. Schools then exchange the voucher for cash. Similarly, in section 8 housing, families with this voucher can only use the voucher to pay a portion of their living costs in specified units or in a private sector. In a budget constraint between all other goods and a voucher good our budget constraint will shift out parallel to an amount equal to the amount of the voucher but the money we have to spend on all other goods remains capped at the same amount we had to spend before the voucher. Voucher programs can make us worse off because of the cap on our ability to spend on all other goods our indifference curves could limit us. Direct Cash This is straight cash with no restrictions on how it can be consumed. Direct cash may cause greater budget constraint because the recipient can spend the cash subsidy on all other goods or on a subsidized good. Direct cash increases the entire budget constraint and shifts the indifference curves outward allowing us to maximize individual utility.
Provision and funding
This section requires expansion. (January 2010)
Welfare may be provided directly by governments or their agencies, by private organizations, or by a combination. The term Welfare state is used to describe a state in which the government provides the majority of Welfare services; the phrase also describes those services collectively. Welfare may be funded by governments out of general revenue, typically by way of redistributive taxation. Social insurance-type Welfare schemes are funded on a contributory basis by the members of the scheme. Contributions may be pooled to fund the scheme as a whole, or reserved for the benefit of a particular member. Participation in such schemes is either compulsory, or the program is subsidized heavily enough that most eligible individuals choose to participate. Examples of social insurance programs include the Social Security and Medicare programs in the United States.[1] Some opponents of Welfare argue that it affects work incentives. They also argue that the taxes levied can also affect work incentives. A good example of this would be the reform of the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program. Per AFDC, some amount per recipeint is guaranteed. However, for every dollar the recipient earns the monthly stipend is decreased by an equivalent amount. For most persons, this reduces their incentive to work. This program was replaced by Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF). Under TANF, people were required to actively seek employment while receiving aid and they could only receive aid for a limited amount of time. However, states can choose the amount of resources they will devote to the program. Some people believe this is how the US should reform Medicaid.[2]
History
cases choose not to, provide for themselves.
