When we consider the idea of 'social welfare' in practice, we tend to refer not to individual
preferences, but to groups of people who have interests in common. Old people have
diverse problems, but by virtue of their age they share concerns about, for example, policies
for retirement, pensions, and the maintenance of health. Children require education,
material stability and emotional support. Everyone is first a child, and most of us expect to
become old; these concerns are likely to affect all of us in some way. But pensions,
schooling and medical care are not universal truths of human nature. The ways in which
the problems are defined, and policies are formed to deal with them, depend on the society
in which they occur. People may differ in their choices, or in their views as to how these
issues are best dealt with, but the interests apply to these groups as a whole, and through
them to every member of a society. There is a common good, a concept of social welfare
distinct from the welfare of individuals.