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The Welfare state is one in which the government looks after individual citizens in need through the provision of social welfare programmes. Examples of early welfare-states in the modern world are the Sweden and New Zealand of the 1930s. Changed attitudes in reaction to the Great Depression were instrumental in the move to the welfare state in many countries, harbinging new times where "cradle to grave" services became a reality in contrast to the harsh mass-poverty of the depression.

Criticizers of welfare state point out that the actual mental 'welfare', happiness, might not relate to that of material one (usually the usage of antidepressants is high in 'welfare states). Also excessive state care of citizens might lead to harmful amount of humility and lack of pride, for one, resulting in decrease of private entrepreneuring and degradation of the highest science.