Welfare - Provision and Funding

Provision and Funding

Welfare may be provided directly by governments or their agencies, by private organizations, or by a combination.

Welfare may be funded by governments out of general revenue, typically by way of redistributive taxation. Social insurance-type Welfare schemes are funded on a contributory basis by the members of the scheme. Contributions may be pooled to fund the scheme as a whole, or reserved for the benefit of a particular member. Participation in such schemes is either compulsory, or the program is subsidized heavily enough that most eligible individuals choose to participate.

Examples of social insurance programs include the Social Security and Medicare programs in the United States.