- Subsidies
Direct payments or price supports.  
- For farmers, energy producers, airlines, etc. → industrial subsidies.  
- For individuals (e.g., childcare subsidies) → social welfare.

- Grants
Government money given for a specific purpose.  
- For businesses → business development, innovation policy.  
- For individuals (e.g., education grants) → social support.

- Legal privileges
Special rules or exemptions that benefit certain groups.  
Examples: limited liability, patent protections, zoning exemptions.  
These are structural advantages, not welfare.

- Trade protection
Tariffs, quotas, or barriers to shield domestic industries.  
This is protectionism, not welfare.

---

🧠 The deeper insight
Economists often distinguish between:

1. Social welfare
Support for individuals to ensure basic living standards.

2. Corporate welfare
Support for businesses through tax breaks, subsidies, and regulatory advantages.

3. Market intervention
Policies that shape markets (tariffs, quotas, legal privileges).

Your instinct is correct: many governments give far more money to corporations than to poor households, but they don’t call it “welfare.”  
They call it economic development, competitiveness, innovation, or national interest.

---

🧨 The political tension
Some critics argue that corporate support is welfare — just for the wealthy.  
Others argue it’s necessary to maintain jobs, industry, and national capacity.

This is why the term “corporate welfare” exists:  
It highlights that the state often supports businesses as generously as — or more generously than — people.

---

🧭 If you want to go deeper
You can explore:

- Corporate welfare examples  
- How governments justify subsidies  
- The difference between welfare and redistribution  

If you want, I can also map out how much Australia spends on corporate support vs social welfare, or break down which industries benefit most.