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Social Work vocabulary · Welfare and Benefits

Social assistance

Meaning in social work, with examples

nounCore term

In social work, social assistance means: Cash or in-kind support funded from taxes and given to people on low incomes, without any need for previous contributions.

In Turkish: sosyal yardım, sosyal yardımlar

How it is used

The standard term in international and policy texts from the World Bank, the ILO and the EU. It is distinguished from social insurance, which depends on contributions, such as pensions and unemployment insurance. Together they form social protection.

Example sentences

  1. Social assistance in kind includes food parcels, fuel and school supplies.

  2. The report compares social assistance schemes in twelve countries.

Common collocations

  • social assistance programme
  • social assistance scheme
  • receive social assistance
  • social assistance recipients
  • welfareA person's health, safety and wellbeing; also the system of public support, such as payments and services, for people in need.
  • benefitsMoney or other support paid by the state to people who are unemployed, ill, disabled, caring for someone or on a low income.
  • means testA check of a person's or household's income and savings to decide whether they can receive financial help, and how much.
  • conditional cash transferA social assistance payment given to low-income families on condition that they meet certain requirements, such as sending children to school or attending health checks.
  • povertyNot having enough money or resources to meet basic needs such as food, housing and heating, or to take part in normal life in society.

More terms: Welfare and Benefits

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