[1]The following are the implications of this definition: According to Edwin Cannan, "the aim of political economy or Economics is the explanation of the general causes on which the material welfare of human beings depend".
A farmer who toils in the field, or a worker on an assembly, are performing an economic activity: they work to increase their material welfare (primarily by earning money).
According to Pigou, "the range of enquiry becomes restricted to that part of social welfare that can be brought directly or indirectly into relation with the measuring rod of money".
Finally the word “welfare” in Marshall’s definition brings economics to the realm of ethics.
Broadly, economic welfare is the level of prosperity and standard of living of either an individual or a group of persons.
In the field of economics, it specifically refers to utility gained through the achievement of material goods and services.
[7] According to Roefie Hueting, welfare is dependent on factors like employment, income distribution, labour conditions, leisure time, production and the scarce possible uses of the environmental functions.
Factors used to measure the economic welfare of a population, include: GDP, literacy, access to health care, and assessments of environmental quality.