Buck's other half receives pounds as handout (4)
I believe the answer is:
dole
'handout' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'buck's other half receives pounds' is the wordplay.
'buck's other half' becomes 'doe' (bucks and does are male and female deer, eg).
'receives' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'pounds' becomes 'l' (L can represent the monetary pound**).
'doe' going around 'l' is 'DOLE'.
'as' is the link.
(Other definitions for dole that I've seen before include "Unemployment pay" , "Money received from the state while unemployed" , "State assistance" , "Informal word for unemployment assistance" , "State benefit (colloq.)" .)