Should I give money to homeless beggars, especially children?

It can be confronting to walk down the street and be reminded of the issue of homelessness on your lunch break or evening stroll to the restaurant where you have arranged to meet friends. For some, it’s practically an interruption.

Heart strings can be tugged, you may feel guilty that you have a roof over your head, or enough money to afford a fancy meal, car or house. Isn’t that what it’s all about? Those seeking help need exactly that, your help, but when they ask you for it directly, is it off-putting? Do you feel guilty saying no? Should you help?

On the one hand, it is our responsibility to assist those with less than us who are genuinely going through a hard time. We have more than enough to go around after all. Almost half the world, which is over 3 billion people, live on less than $2.50 a day. Over 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day, and that gap is widening between rich and poor, given the richest 20% of the world’s population actually accounts for over ¾ of the world’s income.

Percentage Of People At Different Poverty Levels. Source: World Bank Development Indicators, 2008

The stats are hard hitting. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die every day due to poverty, with just under 30% of children estimated to be underweight or stunted because of the inability to afford or access sufficient food. With 2.2 billion children in the world, and 1 billion of them in poverty, that’s a staggering figure of every second child.

Half the world’s population now live in cities, with (2005 stats suggesting) 1 in 3 (yes, one in three!) living in slum conditions.

So what are our priorities?

Global Spending Priority	$U.S. Billions
Cosmetics in the United States	8
Ice cream in Europe	11
Perfumes in Europe and the United States	12
Pet foods in Europe and the United States	17
Business entertainment in Japan	35
Cigarettes in Europe	50
Alcoholic drinks in Europe	105
Narcotics drugs in the world	400
Military spending in the world	780

Compared to the estimated additional costs to achieve universal access to basic social services in all developing countries.

Global Priority	$U.S. Billions
Basic education for all	6
Water and sanitation for all	9
Reproductive health for all women	12
Basic health and nutrition	13

Share Of The Worlds Private Consumption – Pie Chart. Source: World Bank Development Indicators, 2008

It’s clear we are the problem.

So with that in mind, do we open our purses and wallets the next time that we walk past the homeless person on the street? Not necessarily.

While it is our duty to provide for those less fortunate then ourselves, can we be sure we are actually helping these people by giving them a cash handout, or should we instead be funding projects which are designed to be sustainable and hand up models rather than hand out? Are we causing even more harm than good?

It has been suggested by experts (as well as over pub stoked conversations) that we are simplygiving money to fund a drink or drug habit. I often thought this was part of a suspicious mind, but after a friend telling me of several incidents they have found beggars later wandering jauntily off down the street to buy a bottle of liquor, and on one occasion change into a rather nice outfit stashed in his backpack, to head off for the rest of his evening, I feel it’s my right to be sceptical about this method of assistance. It seems others have had a similar experience.

The Guardian reporter Jamie Doward reported that in the UK, charities were urging people not to give money directly to beggars in the run up to Christmas as there was:

“overwhelming evidence that people who beg on the street do so to buy hard drugs, particularly crack cocaine and heroin…Outreach team members estimate that 80% of people begging do so to support a drug habit. The research is corroborated by results of drug tests by the police on a group of people for begging in Westminster [2010]; 70% tested positive for crack cocaine or heroin”.

Depressing stuff.

Giving to child beggars: Among the most destructive things you can do:

Jillian Keenan also reports that giving money to child beggars such as those you may come across on many popular holiday destinations, can be the least generous thing that a tourist can do.

Child Beggar with a baby for added sympathy with tourists – Creative Commons Licence Attributed To unbuttonedcoat, Flickr.

She recounts a story where a child beggar rolled over towards her on a skateboard, pushing himself along with his arms because he didn’t have any legs. This was his mode of transport. She gave him the equivalent of $10 but recounts that “Giving him those $10 might be among the most destructive things [she has] ever done”.

“Organized begging is one of the most visible forms of human trafficking—and it’s largely financed and enabled by good-hearted people who just want to help… According to UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, and the U.S. State Department, these children aren’t allowed to keep their earnings or go to school, and are often starved so that they will look gaunt and cry, thereby eliciting more sympathy—and donations—from tourists. And since disabled child beggars get more money than healthy ones, criminal groups often increase their profits by cutting out a child’s eyes, scarring his face with acid, or amputating a limb.

In 2006, an Indian news channel went undercoverand filmed doctors agreeing to amputate limbs for the begging mafia at $200 a pop. (Who knows how the little boy I met in New Delhi lost his legs.) To prevent the children from running away, traffickers often keep kids addicted to opium or other drugs.”

“It’s a devastating pill to swallow, since enslaved children who return to their captors without money might be beaten, tortured, or worse. But by giving them money, we only encourage the cycle, finance a horrific business model, and put future children in grave danger. When we give directly to children, we hurt more than we help. ”

“ A Consortium for Street Children report, for example, found that when tourists gave milk powder to child beggars in Brazil, the children traded that milk for crack cocaine. Yes, milk for crack.”

So while you may be a well intentioned person who is simply looking to help ease the suffering of someone they have just encountered, the reality of the situation can be much harsher and much larger a problem. The passer by on the street or the tourist looking to help does not have the knowledge, the experience or the long term support and investment in the situation they have encountered to be able to help without the risk of making things worse.

This doesn’t help us when we are confronted with the sights and pleads of these individuals, but while we can’t say no, we can’t say yes. Jillian has an interesting solution for children she meets overseas.

“Find an inventive, responsible way to be kind. Recently, I’ve been traveling with a small hand stamp. When kids approach me, I put a stamp on my own hand and give them the option to do the same. I’m sure some parents aren’t thrilled to see their kid come home with a stamp on her hand—or, in the case of one particularly excited boy I met in the Philippines, directly in the middle of his forehead—but it has been a fun and minimally disruptive way to interact and prompt a few smiles, including my own. One friend of mine travels with a lightweight animal puppet and another always ties three long ribbons to her backpack and uses them to show child beggars how to make a braid. The options are endless.”

Of course, this won’t work on the streets of western cities with your local adult beggar, but many of your local or national charities have local outreach programs in place designed to assist these individuals not only find safe refuge and food, but often assist if there are greater forces at play such as drug addition and other problems. It is for this reason that I personally choose to donate to charities than beggars on the street as they have the infrastructure in place to provide long term support and not day to day living which can make it very difficult to extricate an individual from a problem. That said, it’s hard to walk past someone who evidently needs help of some nature, and let’s face it regardless of your decision on how to act, a little kindness goes a long, long way.

—

Sources: