welfare, sociology of welfare Welfare is the state or condition of doing or being well. The term is primarily invoked when some action is considered necessary in order to enhance individual or group welfare—that is when welfare is in some way in doubt. It is, consequently, a term employed first and foremost in the arena of policy, and is intimately linked to the concept of needs, since it is by meeting needs that welfare is enhanced: welfare policies are policies designed to meet individual or group needs. The needs at issue are not merely those necessary for survival, but those necessary for a reasonable or adequate life within the society.
They include not only a minimum level of income for food and clothing, but also adequate housing, education, health care, and opportunities for employment (though this is not always included). Precisely how and to what extent these needs are met clearly varies from society to society.
During the twentieth century, the role of the state in meeting welfare needs in advanced industrial societies has typically increased. However, over the past decade or more there has been some retrenchment in state welfare in a range of Western societies, with an increasing privatization of welfare services, and support for private provision dependent on the ability to pay, rather than upon need.
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