Is government welfare mandated in the Constitution?

No. In fact what we call “welfare” today was not called by that name back then. There were social safety nets, but they were local, not federal and they were governed by state law, generally known as poor laws. This went back to the earliest colonial times. Nothing changed in this regard by the adoption of the Constitution. read more

One answer assumes that it is the same as “"General welfare” in the preamble to the Constitution, and further assumes that the preamble amounts to a mandate as you use that term. Both those assumptions can be questioned. read more

A general welfare clause is a section that appeared in many constitutions, as well as in some charters and statutes, which provides that the governing body empowered by the document may enact laws to promote the general welfare of the people, sometimes worded as the public welfare. read more

3. The article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress. read more

Certainly not. The clause you cite is proof enough: every government act must promote the general welfare, not merely the welfare of one or a few individuals. Giving money to individuals for their own personal welfare, at the expense of the general welfare, is the exact opposite. read more

The article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress. read more