Let's take, as an example, a hypothetical high school educated single mother of two. Without welfare, she would almost certainly have to work low-paying jobs to scrape by enough to support herself and her children. With welfare, she might lay around on her butt all day doing nothing and laughing at suckers like you and me who pay for it, but she might also use government services for day care for her children while she goes to college for two years to become a nurse. This is an overly simplistic example and, as I said, hypothetical, but with that nurse's salary, she will pay more into the system (via taxes), have more money to contribute to the economy, and (hopefully) break a cycle of dependence for her children.