Oh, you are mistaken. The concept of "welfare" is not about giving alms to the poor as an incentive to keep them from working (a too common misconception).
Welfare is about providing equal opportunity to everyone, giving everyone the opportunity to grow, to innovate and become entrepreneurs.
For one thing, it is about allowing anyone to get a college education, even if your parents aren't rich.
There are downsides to this, too, of course. Nothing is perfect.
One is that most jobs now require an education, with high competition for the low-paying unskilled jobs that remain.
I have myself worked at several startups, with innovating technology.
In my home town: Stockholm - the capital of the most "welfare state" there has been - I have seen numerous companies emerge ... to be acquired by larger international corporations.
Many international corporations have development centres here, either from buying up existing firms or by establishing them themselves.
Another example: A childhood friend has been able to become a hot-shot music producer for international and American artists. I saw how he started his journey as a musician by going o classes when he was a kid -- classes subsidised by the welfare state.