Definition

Noun: 1. A person or family receiving financial or material aid from the government or social services: The term refers specifically to an individual or household whose situation (often involving poverty, disability, or other hardship) requires them to be a recipient of public assistance or welfare benefits. 2. The specific situation or file of such a person handled by a social worker: It can also refer to the administrative instance or file documenting an individual's need for and receipt of welfare support.

Usage Examples

• As a person/family:
  • The social worker visited the new welfare case to assess their needs.
  • She became a welfare case after losing her job and having no family support.
• As a situation/file:
  • This complex welfare case involves housing, childcare, and employment training.
  • The agency closed the welfare case after the client found stable employment.

Advanced Usage

• The term can carry a neutral, administrative tone in official contexts but may sometimes be perceived as stigmatizing or impersonal when used to label a person outside of a professional setting.
• "To be a welfare case": An informal and often derogatory phrase meaning to be in a state of complete disrepair or failure.
  • After the scandal, the company's public image was a total welfare case.

Variants and Related Words

• Welfare recipient (n): A more neutral and preferred term for a person receiving welfare benefits.
• Beneficiary (n): A general term for someone who receives benefits, which can include welfare.
• Client (n): The term often used by social workers and agencies to refer to a person receiving services.

Synonyms

• Dependent (n): A person who relies on another, especially for financial support.
• Charge (n): A person entrusted to the care of another, such as a social worker.
• Recipient (n): A person who receives something.

Related Phrases

• On welfare: The common phrase describing the state of receiving government assistance.
  • The single mother was on welfare for two years while she completed her degree.
• Welfare roll(s) (n): The official list of people receiving welfare benefits in a given area.
  • The new policies aimed to reduce the number of people on the welfare rolls.

Noun

1. a case for a welfare worker