Documentary backdrop image for Welfare (1975)

Documentary backdrop image for Welfare (1975)

1975167 minPGdocumentary

7.4/ 10(38 ratings)• TMDB

Civil Rights Social Justice Poverty Mental Health

Welfare

1975167 minPGdocumentary

7.4/ 10(38 ratings)• TMDB

WELFARE exposes the intricate struggles within the welfare system.

Civil Rights Social Justice Poverty Mental Health

Genres

Director

Frederick Wiseman

Synopsis

WELFARE exposes the intricate struggles within the welfare system.

People

Frederick Wiseman

Frederick Wisemandirector

Synopsis

WELFARE shows the nature and complexity of the welfare system in sequences illustrating the staggering diversity of problems that constitute welfare: housing, unemployment, divorce, medical and psychiatric problems, abandoned and abused children, and the elderly. These issues are presented in a context where welfare workers as well as clients struggle to cope with and interpret the laws and regulations that govern their work and life.

Awards & Festivals

Comments

What are people saying?

Play More Like This

USA: Being Poor in the World's Richest Country (2024)

USA: Being Poor in the World's Richest Country

2024•52m•★7.0TMDB

30 people sleep overnight in a free parking lot in Southern California, despite holding jobs as security guards, Uber drivers, and cleaners.

USA: Being Poor in the World's Richest Country

The Weight of the Nation (2012)

The Weight of the Nation

2012•4h•★5.8TMDB

More than 18% of children in the United States are classified as obese, prompting discussions on health risks and potential solutions to the obesity crisis.

The Weight of the Nation

Could You Survive on Welfare? (2024)

Could You Survive on Welfare?

Three contributors experience life on JobSeeker and the Disability Support Pension for three days, facing the challenges of living on welfare.

Could You Survive on Welfare?

Welfare Wednesday (2025)

Welfare Wednesday

In Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, the last Wednesday of the month triggers a chaotic scramble among drug addicts and dealers as welfare checks are distributed.

Welfare Wednesday

The Deserter (2020)

The Deserter

Bill Denby owes $480 to a furniture company while struggling to support his wife and three children in a challenging financial situation.

Intimate stories of people living with the devastating effects of long-term unemployment (2026)

Intimate stories of people living with the devastating effects of long-term unemployment

Dean, a former steelworker, supports his wife Claire and their seven children on social benefits in Scunthorpe, where jobs have become scarce.

Intimate stories of people living with the devastating effects of long-term unemployment

Ending Welfare as We Knew It (2016)

Ending Welfare as We Knew It

In July, Arizona will impose a new time limit on benefits of one year, affecting roughly 1,600 families and 2,700 children.

Ending Welfare as We Knew It

After the Applause (2014)

After the Applause

186 million accounts are established in the United States Social Security program, as seen in the backdrop of the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus.

After the Applause

The American Dream Doesn't Pay the Bills (2026)

The American Dream Doesn't Pay the Bills

Working-class families across the United States, including Emilia, DJ, and Takita, confront economic insecurity through low wages, healthcare costs, and debt.

The American Dream Doesn't Pay the Bills

Most Dangerous Places to Work: Life On the Psych Ward (2023)

Most Dangerous Places to Work: Life On the Psych Ward

The Bethlehem Royal in South London houses 120 mentally disordered offenders, with a bed costing four times more than one in prison.

Most Dangerous Places to Work: Life On the Psych Ward

Inside Airport Lost & Found (2022)

Inside Airport Lost & Found

2022•44m•★2.0TMDB

Millions of belongings are misplaced at airports each year, with lost items traveling from Seattle to auction houses in Pittsburgh and sales in Alabama.

Inside Airport Lost & Found

400 a Week for Rent & Nothing Left: Surviving in Mount Druitt (2026)

400 a Week for Rent & Nothing Left: Surviving in Mount Druitt

Average rent in Mount Druitt is about $400 a week, leaving many families struggling to afford basic necessities like food and clothing.

400 a Week for Rent & Nothing Left: Surviving in Mount Druitt

Explore Welfare

Awards Topics FAQ Stream

Where else to watch

USA: Being Poor in the World's Richest Country (2024)

USA: Being Poor in the World's Richest Country

2024•52m•★7.0TMDB

30 people sleep overnight in a free parking lot in Southern California, despite holding jobs as security guards, Uber drivers, and cleaners.

USA: Being Poor in the World's Richest Country

No digital watch option in your country

Public Housing (1997)

Public Housing

1997•3h20m•★7.5TMDB

Ida B. Wells public housing development in Chicago illustrates the daily life, community interactions, and bureaucratic challenges of its residents.

Winter Buoy (2015)

Winter Buoy

2015•1h26m•★7.4TMDB

A group of nurses in Toronto assists pregnant women facing homelessness, drug addiction, and violent relationships during the harsh winter months.

Walter Williams: Suffer No Fools (2014)

Walter Williams: Suffer No Fools

2014•56m•★9.0TMDB

Walter Williams, an economist and columnist, presents his controversial views on affirmative action, the Civil Rights Act, and the welfare state’s impact on black Americans.

Walter Williams: Suffer No Fools

Foster (2018)

Foster

2018•1h53m•★6.2TMDB

Over 400,000 children are in the foster care system in the United States due to neglect or abuse, with one in eight experiencing maltreatment by age 18.

As We're Told (2017)

As We're Told

2017•28m•★9.0TMDB

Only 10% of clients at Sweden's employment agency find new jobs, while each case worker assists just 10 individuals annually.

Maineland (2017)

Maineland

2017•1h30m•★4.6TMDB

Chinese teenagers from wealthy families arrive at a boarding school in Maine, seeking the American dream and facing cultural challenges.

Bertha Lutz: Women and the U.N. Charter (2021)

Bertha Lutz: Women and the U.N. Charter

2021•1h38m•★10.0TMDB

Bertha Lutz played a key role in ensuring women's rights were included in the discussions that shaped the U.N. Charter in 1945.

Bertha Lutz: Women and the U.N. Charter

Browse more like this

Could You Survive on Welfare? (2024)

Could You Survive on Welfare?

Three contributors experience life on JobSeeker and the Disability Support Pension for three days, facing the challenges of living on welfare.

Could You Survive on Welfare?

No digital watch option in your country

Intimate stories of people living with the devastating effects of long-term unemployment (2026)

Intimate stories of people living with the devastating effects of long-term unemployment

Dean, a former steelworker, supports his wife Claire and their seven children on social benefits in Scunthorpe, where jobs have become scarce.

Intimate stories of people living with the devastating effects of long-term unemployment

No digital watch option in your country

Inside Airport Lost & Found (2022)

Inside Airport Lost & Found

2022•44m•★2.0TMDB

Millions of belongings are misplaced at airports each year, with lost items traveling from Seattle to auction houses in Pittsburgh and sales in Alabama.

Inside Airport Lost & Found

No digital watch option in your country

400 a Week for Rent & Nothing Left: Surviving in Mount Druitt (2026)

400 a Week for Rent & Nothing Left: Surviving in Mount Druitt

Average rent in Mount Druitt is about $400 a week, leaving many families struggling to afford basic necessities like food and clothing.

400 a Week for Rent & Nothing Left: Surviving in Mount Druitt

No digital watch option in your country

Benefits Street (2014)

Benefits Street

2014•50m•★6.3TMDB

Residents on one of Britain's most benefit-dependent streets share their daily lives, revealing struggles and triumphs while relying on government assistance.

Benefits Street

Them That's Not (1993)

Them That's Not

1993•55m•★9.0TMDB

Over 55 minutes, the film examines Canada’s welfare system through the experiences of single women and mothers advocating for social change.

Them That's Not

The Department (2021)

The Department

Caseworkers in New South Wales confront the challenges of protecting children from domestic violence, addiction, and poverty in a system rarely seen by the public.

Broken Columns (2015)

Broken Columns

2015•1h18m•★10.0TMDB

Personal testimonies reveal the struggles of workers facing inequality and exploitation in labor sectors across Spain and Uruguay.

At Five on the Dot (2004)

At Five on the Dot

2004•56m•★10.0TMDB

On June 27, 1973, Uruguayan workers and students staged the largest peaceful demonstration in Latin America against a military coup.

At Five on the Dot

Browse more by Frederick Wiseman

View all films →

High School (1969)

High School

1969

Law and Order (1969)

Law and Order

1969

Titicut Follies (1967)

Titicut Follies

1967

Monrovia, Indiana (2018)

Monrovia, Indiana

2018

Aspen (1991)

Aspen

1991

Blind (1986)

Blind

1986

Is this your film?

If you made this film or hold the rights to it, we'd like to talk. We can license it and pay you a share of what it earns.

License it with us →