Definition
The case of a person or group receiving public benefits, although the benefits are not actually needed by the recipient or are obtained by fraud.
Origins
The imagery is of a person arriving at a welfare office in a Cadillac automobile (an expensive car) to pick up a welfare payment. The implication is that the person does not need the benefit, or that the benefits are too generous.
See Also
- welfare bum
- welfare parasite
- welfare queen
How People Actually Use It
Ironic reference to a cheap and/or beat-up banger of a car. Originated in response to Ronald Reagan's exaggeration of a Chicago welfare fraud case in which $8,000 was received. Reagan reported the amount as $150,000 dollars, possibly conflating it with the case of Dorothy Woods and her 38 pretended children, and said the woman owned a Cadillac.
"Yep, this old banger's my Welfare Cadillac. Who knew they still had an Edsel in stock?"
Source: Urban Dictionary