Social welfare: concept and constitutional legal characteristics

Introduction: the article is devoted to the scientific discussion about the volume of the notion of social welfare as part of the state's constitutional legitimacy principle. Purpose: to research different doctrinal approaches to the definition of the social welfare notion in its direct connection with the category of the social state, to define its types and principal parameters of existence. Methods: the methodological framework of the research is based on the universal dialectical method of scientific cognition and a complex of general scientific methods (systematicity, analysis and synthesis, concretization). The basic specific legal method of research is the comparative law analysis. Results: it has been revealed that there is no universal and precise definition of the social welfare notion in scientific literature. The volume of this notion is also unclear. The types of social welfare have been defined. The article reveals an objective contradiction between the common welfare and the will of individuals to contribute to its maintenance. It also gives a characteristic of the global social welfare, which can be used by all states and all segments of population. Conclusions: welfare of the society is one of the most important social benefits. A state of welfare is welfare itself; welfare as a public benefit means acknowledgement of the capability gap within the framework of the market-driven economy and the necessity for the state to show initiative in solving the issues of such a gap. At the same time, the state itself can produce benefits that do not comply with the publicity characteristics, and public benefits can be produced by the private sector of economy.