public assistance

[puhb-lik uh-sis-tuhns]

noun

1. government aid to poor, disabled, or aged people or to dependent children, as financial assistance or food stamps.

public assistance

noun

1. payment given to individuals by government agencies on the basis of need

Other Word Forms

• public-assistance adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of public assistance¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Meanwhile, low-income households that are eligible for public assistance with their home heating bills may not get that help until late December — after cold-weather demand begins.

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As a community college student and single parent receiving public assistance, she is also eligible for additional support including meal vouchers and grocery gift cards.

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According to the National Association of Counties, 40 percent of home health aides live in low-income neighborhoods and rely on some form of public assistance; 30 percent of them are on Medicaid themselves.

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Many of the rank-and-file workers without whom Bezos, Dell and their fellow plutocrats could have reached their pinnacles of fortune have struggled in the oligarchic economy, relying on public assistance to make ends meet.

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All three consistently land at or near the top of lists of major corporations with significant shares of their workers collecting public assistance.

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