noun

• 1The health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group.

  ‘they don't give a damn about the welfare of their families’

  More example sentences

  • ‘He said that the health, safety and welfare of officers was always of concern.’
  • ‘Provision for the pupils' care, health, safety and welfare is very good.’
  • ‘After a month or so a programme of home visits begins, and enquiries are made about the health and general welfare of each family.’
  • ‘All or most states already have laws to protect the health and welfare of animals.’
  • ‘It is your programme in writing for managing health, safety and welfare within your business.’
  • ‘He was found guilty of failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of his employees.’
  • ‘However, housing some birds would not be in their interest where health and welfare is concerned.’
  • ‘We need to ensure that no one has to put the health and welfare of his or her family at risk in order to keep a job.’
  • ‘We have been let down by people who should have been looking after Laura's health and welfare and we are all devastated.’
  • ‘Its bosses say they are looking to reduce sugar and fat for the health and welfare of us all.’
  • ‘He had no thought but for me, my welfare, my comfort, my safety, my happiness.’
  • ‘The confidentiality was agreed to protect the interests and welfare of the student.’
  • ‘This type of cost cutting threatens the health and welfare of local residents.’
  • ‘Their help and support over the past few months have made an immense difference to the welfare and happiness of our family.’
  • ‘Our paramount concerns are for his and other patient's welfare and safety.’
  • ‘The agency said the decision was taken to ensure the children's safety and welfare.’
  • ‘He has not been heard from since, and there are grave concerns for his safety and welfare.’
  • ‘There's an interesting conference about animal welfare going on somewhere at the moment.’
  • ‘If you are interested in animal welfare there are two young dogs urgently in need of homes.’
  • ‘Tributes are being paid to a North Yorkshire woman who was devoted to the protection and welfare of cats.’
  • ‘It's total disregard for the financial and emotional welfare of everyone involved.’
  • ‘They should not only care for the welfare of the children, but should also have financial knowledge.’

  Synonyms

  well-being, health, good health, happiness, comfort, security, safety, protection, prosperity, profit, good, success, fortune, good fortune, advantage, interest, prosperousness, successfulness

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1Statutory procedure or social effort designed to promote the basic physical and material well-being of people in need.
     ‘the protection of rights to education, housing, and welfare’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Social welfare service employees and municipal inspectors are also on strike.’
     • ‘To be sure, every increase in wages and social welfare measures boosts demand.’
     • ‘Mr. Rector has advocated devoting much more federal welfare money for promoting marriage.’
     • ‘Political involvement was the foundation of all social welfare and public service.’
     • ‘Social welfare, designed to fill the gap where the family can no longer provide, hardly exists.’
     • ‘In the six years since Labour came to power we have seen our public services and welfare system eroded almost into extinction.’
     • ‘Firstly immigrants and refugees are not a drain on the NHS and the social welfare services.’
     • ‘In this argument charity is private benevolence and social welfare is public.’
     • ‘I am proud of our social welfare system and the safety net it provides for those who need it.’
     • ‘On public sector privatisation and cuts in welfare benefits, Labour and the Tories are united.’
     • ‘Workers remembered the privatisations, sackings, and attacks on social security and welfare.’
     • ‘They also tend to spend more time on study and meditation and less on social affairs and community welfare programmes.’
     • ‘Statutory welfare agencies have also used the threat of criminalization to secure compliance to new social norms.’
     • ‘The youth criminal justice system is expanding into areas that child welfare services would once have intervened in.’
     • ‘In part, this reflects the fact that such groups are benefiting from welfare privatisation.’
     • ‘They want more spent on education, health and welfare and they want it now.’
     • ‘Health spending, welfare and aged care benefits are seen as the main culprits.’
  2. 1.2mainly North American Financial support given to people in need.
     ‘We know that real jobs are a better guarantee of prosperity for the unemployed than welfare.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘The workers are demanding an expansion and prompt payment of welfare benefits to the unemployed.’
     • ‘The Government wants to keep putting up taxes in order to support its welfare expenditure.’
     • ‘Welfare benefits are being reduced and new provisions introduced to restrict access to welfare.’
     • ‘What got me back was that I was on food stamps and welfare and I had a family to support.’
     • ‘The implications for long-term funding of welfare and pensions is profound.’
     • ‘We must look behind these numbers to see if how families fare after leaving welfare.’
     • ‘First, cuts in welfare and other social programs have reduced government health insurance.’
     • ‘America, rightly or wrongly, spends a great deal on welfare.’
     • ‘Dependency on welfare was growing and approaching the peak it would reach in 1995.’
     • ‘A decade ago, some Chumash still relied on welfare and donated clothing.’
     Synonyms

     social security, benefit, state benefit, benefit payment, public assistance

     View synonyms