Free education in the context of "Social welfare"

Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance programs which provide support only to those who have previously contributed (e.g. pensions), as opposed to social assistance programs which provide support on the basis of need alone (e.g. most disability benefits). The International Labour Organization defines social security as covering support for those in old age, support for the maintenance of children, medical treatment, parental and sick leave, unemployment and disability benefits, and support for sufferers of occupational injury.

More broadly, welfare may also encompass efforts to provide a basic level of well-being through subsidized social services such as healthcare, education, infrastructure, vocational training, and public housing. In a welfare state, the state assumes responsibility for the health, education, infrastructure and welfare of society, providing a range of social services such as those described.

The right to education has been recognized as a human right in a number of international conventions, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which recognizes a right to free, primary education for all, an obligation to develop secondary education accessible to all with the progressive introduction of free secondary education, as well as an obligation to develop equitable access to higher education, ideally by the progressive introduction of free higher education. In 2021, 171 states were parties to the Covenant.

In 2021, the new total of out-of-school children reached 250 million, with social inequality as a major cause. Around the world, 16% of youth were not attending any sort of schooling in 2023, with the primary level of education sitting at 1 out of 10 children not attending. 48% of the population not attending school were girls and young women.

La Ligue de l'enseignement was initially conceived and created by the journalist Jean Macé, on 15 November 1866. It was advocated for by liberal press, as public, free, compulsory and secular education. A congress convened in 1881, which gave La Ligue its federal form. In 1925, after World War I, La Ligue decentralized in order to create even greater access for the public needs. Midway through World War II, in 1942, the league dissolved.

In a re-founding convening congress in 1945, La Ligue deepened its involvement in secularism and the humanities. To date it remains a member of the European Humanist Federation and the International Humanist and Ethical Union.