福利

福利(welfare)，亦称社会福利（social welfare）。

政府提供的各种协助需要帮助者的方案。包括退休金、残障及失业保险、家庭补助、遗属津贴以及国民健康保险。现代最早的社会福利法颁行於1880年代的德国（参阅social insurance），至1920年代和1930年代时，大部分的西方国家都已采行相似的方案。大部分的工业化国家都要求公司为员工保残障险（参阅worker's compensation），以确保不论是暂时的或永久的伤害发生时员工仍有收入。对那些由疾病引起而非工作导致的残障，大部分的国家会给予短期补贴以及长期的养老津贴。许多国家都提供家庭补助，以避免大家庭所导致的贫穷，或是用以提高出生率。遗属津贴提供给未达老人津贴补助年龄且有未成年子女的遗孀，各国规定有所不同，且一般於该妇女再婚後即停止补贴。在比较富裕的国家之中，只有美国未能施行全面性的国民健康保险，目前保险对象仅及於老人与贫穷者（参阅Medicare and Medicaid）。

English version：

welfare

Any of a variety of governmental programs that provide assistance to those in need. Programs include pensions, disability and unemployment insurance, family allowances, survivor benefits, and national health insurance. The earliest modern welfare laws were enacted in Germany in the 1880s (see social insurance), and by the 1920s and '30s most Western nations had adopted similar programs. Most industrialized countries require firms to insure workers for disability (see workers' compensation), so that they have income if they are injured, whether temporarily or permanently. For disability from illness unrelated to occupational injury, most industrial nations pay a short-term benefit followed by a long-term pension. Many countries pay a family allowance to reduce the poverty of large families or to increase the birthrate. Survivor benefits, provided for widows below pension age left with a dependent child, vary considerably among nations and generally cease if the woman remarries. Of the wealthier nations, only the U.S. fails to provide national health insurance other than for the aged and the poor (see Medicare and Medicaid).

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