welfare state

Definition

A social system in which the state takes overall responsibility for the welfare of its citizens, providing health care, education, unemployment benefits and social security.

Etymology

Compound of welfare + state.

Example Sentences

• "In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. The welfare state is dismantled. Essential public services are cut so that the rich may pay less tax. […]"
• "Wagenknecht […] argues further that a policy of high migration enforces a minimal welfare state that is ‘cheaper for the upper and upper middle classes in comparison to a real welfare state, but it is not an attractive project for the middle and lower middle groups. Thus, if one wants to remove support for social provisions, this is exactly the way to do it’."