Answer to Question 1
Social welfare is a more comprehensive term than social work; social welfare encompasses social work. Social welfare and social work are primarily related at the level of practice. Almost all social workers are working in the field of social welfare. There are, however, many other professional and occupational groups that may be working in this field. Professional people providing social welfare services include attorneys who offer legal services to the poor, urban planners in social planning agencies, and physicians in public health agencies.
Human services may be defined as those systems of services and allied occupations and professions that concentrate on improving or maintaining the physical and mental health and general well-being of individuals, groups, or communities in our society. There is a tendency to use the term human services for what in the past has been called social welfare. Actually, human services is a broader term because it includes services (such as library services, law enforcement, housing-code enforcement, consumer protection, and fire prevention and firefighting) that are usually not considered social welfare services. The term social welfare is thus more limited because it focuses on conceptualizing and resolving social problems. Human services is a broader term that encompasses social welfare programs. The two terms relate at a program level.
Answer to Question 2
The goal of social welfare is to fulfill the social, financial, health, and recreational requirements of all individuals in a society. Social welfare seeks to enhance the social functioning of all age groups, both rich and poor. When other institutions in society, such as the market economy and the family, fail at times to meet the basic needs of individuals or groups of people, then social services are needed and demanded.