In my country the benefits of such assistance/programs outweight the negatives. Low crime rates, pretty much no homeless people, if they are they chose to be homeless in that they have places for homeless people to live with no charge so they don't have to sleep on the street.
Free education (yes paid by taxes, and it is one of the best in the world) means everyone no matter what family - poor or rich - you come from you can have an education. Everyone in your society benefits from a person recieving an education.
Free/ govt funded healthcare means all people no matter rich or poor can afford to see a doctor and take whatever medication they need. Maternity leave is 9-12 months and daycare/childcare is affordable (depends, but usually about $150-300 a month per kid vs the $2,000 a month I was paying when I lived in Boston, MA per kid). Paternity leave can be up to 3 months.
If your country doesn't provide basic human services like an education and health care that are accessible to all people no matter their financial situation how can one expect a person to be a successful independent person who contributes to society? Without good health and without an education a human can't be very productive and they will feel secluded/left behind by society.
Do people take advantage of these things? Yes, no system or country is perfect. And would free Heath care and education, a really good immigrant integration system, a great social safety net for those who are out of work due to whatever reason (again, tax funded not free, but you get my point) work in all countries on earth? No, deffinately not.
However, I do think it is worth your while (Americans, or who ever else lives in a country without these things) to stop and take a look at these aspects of our society that make our people very happy, and enhance the equality and quality of our lives in Finland, and see if there is something that may help your country - it can't hurt to just consider it and understand it.
If it isn't for your country then it isn't for your country, but all countries in the world should look at each other and strive to understand each other instead of people saying oh nothing that Finland/ Norway/ Sweden is doing will help us their countries are so different. We hate -insert whatever country- because they aren't like us so their ideas are dumb and don't apply to us. We are always looking at the US to see what we can use here that may help us instead of saying -well, we aren't like them so it won't work-