Meaning & use
welfare payments
Last updated
Meaning
nounusually plural
Money given by a government to people who are poor, unemployed, ill or otherwise unable to support themselves.
Grammar: Usually plural: welfare payments are rising, though one welfare payment can also be mentioned.
Patterns
- welfare payments to someone
- receive welfare payments
The government increased welfare payments for families with young children.
He received welfare payments for six months after losing his job.
Critics argue that welfare payments should be tied to job training.
Word forms
| singular | welfare payment |
|---|
Common combinations
- receive welfare payments
- Many retired workers receive welfare payments.
- cut welfare payments
- Lawmakers voted to cut welfare payments.
- monthly welfare payments
- Her monthly welfare payments cover rent.
- claim welfare payments
- You must apply before you can claim welfare payments.
Synonyms and how they differ
- benefits
- Benefits is the common British word and covers all state support, while welfare payments sounds more American and more formal.
- social security
- Social security often means pensions and insurance in the US, a narrower sense than welfare payments.
- public assistance
- Public assistance is a formal US term for aid to people in need, and is more official in tone.
- the dole
- The dole is informal British slang for unemployment payments, much narrower than welfare payments.
Word family
Commonly confused: welfare payments or wellfare?
welfare payments vs wellfare
This misspelling is common; the word is welfare, spelled with a single l after the e.
Practice
A parent who lost her job and now gets monthly money from the government is receiving ____.
Choose one answer.
Welfare payments are government support for people in need. Dividends come from owning shares, which is not the situation described.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “welfare payments”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.