This chapter presents a brief overview of the gradual development of the Soviet welfare system, which served as an example for many socialist welfare models around the world. After the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolshevik government quickly introduced (mostly completely new) legislation to provide state-funded social services in the areas of healthcare, old-age pensions, education, and so on. This meant a major expansion of social policy in terms of inclusiveness and scope of benefits. However, these de jure entitlements were at first limited to a select few; it took most social programmes decades to serve the majority of their intended beneficiaries. Focusing on the right to income maintenance (i.e., old-age, disability and survivor pensions, unemployment, sickness and maternity benefits, and child allowances), the chapter analyses the specific modes of and motivations for welfare policy development in the Soviet Union.