BENEFIT SOCIETIES, a term sometimes employed to describe associations formed for the purpose of obtaining for their members, or for the dependents of their members, certain deferred benefits, such as payments during sickness or funeral allowances. Benefit societies are in fact insurance societies, and their activities range over a wide field. The name benefit society is more frequently employed in the United States; in Great Britain such an institution is termed a friendly society. Under the National Insurance act, most of the British friendly societies have acquired a legal status as "Approved Societies" (q.v.).
(See FRIENDLY SOCIETIES, and NATIONAL INSURANCE : HEALTH. )