Welfare is the provision of a safety net of minimal level of well-being and social support for all citizens. Welfare may also refer to: General well-being Examples of usage of the term to denote the general well-being of an individual or group of individuals include: Well-being, what is intrinsically valuable for someone Prosperity, a state of flourishing Animal welfare, the quality of life of animals, and concerns thereabout Economics Welfare or economic surplus, the sum of consumer and producer surplus, used by economists as a substitute for utility Welfare economics, the microeconomic study of allocative efficiency and associated income distribution Government-run public aid In the United States, the term "welfare" has developed negative connotations due to its association with dependency, as in the terms: Corporate welfare, term describing the bestowal of benefits upon corporations by government Welfare fraud, intentional misuse of welfare programs by providing false information Welfare queen, a pejorative term for a person accused of collecting excess welfare payments Welfare state, the concept of government's playing a key role in individual economic and social well-being Other uses Welfare (1975), a film by Frederick Wiseman HMS Welfare, the name of two ships of the Royal Navy, and one planned ship