essay about giving money to beggars

Should We Give Money to Beggars?

In any large city people are concerned about beggars. They certainly look disadvantaged and on cold nights our hearts go out to anyone sleeping rough. But are they really so hard up? Are they playing on our sympathy? Does all the money we give them go on drugs? Should we be giving our change to beggars?

All the Yes points:

We should weigh the happiness pennies could give, it is better than giving money to organised charities., no. we should be that money to organizations that work on remedying the root cause of homelessness., all the no points:, they will spend the money on drugs or alcohol, you do not know if they are really homeless, encourages others to follow suit., no. we give that money to organizations that work on remedying the root cause of homelessness., they are not all beggars and homeless, yes because….

If you find yourself with a few pennies in your pockets, pennies which are sometimes more of an inconvenience than anything else, why should we not give them to those who are asking for help? Those pennies mean relatively little to the reasonably well off, but they could make a great deal of difference to the homeless. It is a simple matter of weighing happiness. The happiness those pennies would cause a homeless person is a lot more than what those pennies would give to a reasonably well-off person’s pocket or money jar.

No because…

No. We should give our loose change to charities which support the homeless, help them find jobs and give them a place to stay. Giving money to the homeless is like trying to treat the symptom of a disease when in actual fact you need to tackle the cause. Why should we be giving up the money we work for all day long to some those on the streets that just sit, begging all day long. Don’t you want to know if you’re money you are giving away is really going to a good cause? That is why it is more precise to buy food or gift cards to grocery stores. Otherwise, just put forth your money to a charity that directly helps support this cause.

Regardless how happy the homeless person would be, completing such a direct act of charity will make you a lot happier than merely pledging money, even a more substantial amount, via a large charity. When giving to a large charity a lot of the money gets filtered out by administration. Street fund-raisers are often paid and so are various other administrators. As such, a higher percentage of your money would be going to the actual people who need it rather than to a large organisation.

When you give the money to an organised charity you know that the money will be spent wisely. Yes, street fund raisers get paid, but that is money well spent if they get even a small number of people signing up to a direct debit scheme. So the £10 you give could be invested into these fundraisers and your money will help sign up 3 direct debits from people who could make monthly payments from £5 to £20. So your donation could be tripled in effect. In addition to this, when you give money directly to beggars, you have no idea as to what they will spend that money on. You have no idea whether they really are homeless. An organised charity eliminates all these doubts. They will spend the money on shelters and food, not alcohol and cigarettes. They will ensure that the money is distributed amongst the most needy. All this taken into account, giving to an organisation instead of one beggar is far more helpful.

If you give money to a homeless person you are just encouraging their behavior. There are many services available to help the homeless get back on their feet. They reject these services and choose to be homeless. Not to mention you have no idea what they could using the money you give them for (drugs). The money you would give them should go to an organization that provides services to the mentally ill homeless. The mentally ill homeless are really the only ones who have a reason to be out on the streets. All the other homeless are just beggars who refuse to work themselves. It’s better to just invest in a nonprofit organization that rehabilitates the mentally ill homeless. Save up your quarters you would give the guy you pass by everyday to work and then mail you accumulated funds as a check to a organizations that helps the disadvantaged!

That’s right you can give your money to organizations and they can use the money wisely for you instead of drugs and other things.

Most people who are homeless are homeless for a reason. Either their families have chucked them out or they have spent all their money on drugs or alcohol. By giving these people money, all you are doing is giving them the means to continue their bad habit. Homeless people are in a vicious circle and all you do when you give them change is continue the circle.

Everybody who’s homeless is homeless for a reason, but is simply not accurate to say most have spent all their money on drugs and alcohol – and if that is true for some people it’s not true to say they still continue to take drugs now. Many people, women especially, are on the streets because of sexual abuse. Many men are ex-servicemen who can’t cope with civilian life. Many people who used to use drugs are now clean but can’t get a job because they have no CV (and of course are homeless). So the vicious circle exists and can be increased. Though it’s more likely to be increased if you don’t give than do.

There is no proof that those who are lying on the streets are actually homeless. They could go home, into the warmth, with their loving family. By giving these people money without any proof, you are stopping the people who really need the money from receiving it. Instead the money should go to a large charity whereby they help the people who truly need it by providing clean housing and food; the essentials.

To beg is extremely demeaning, not to mention freezing! People must be in extreme poverty in order to resort to such measures. Yes, there are concerns about whether they are really poor, but if a person resorts to such methods to gain a bit of money each day, surely they are need in help, just as much, if not more than those who have no choice but to be on the streets?

Easy money is an extreme attraction for the lazy; sitting around all day collecting spare money off of passers by. With such an easy living to be made there where is the motivation for such a person to get themselves off of the street and into a secure job. By giving money to these sorts of people, far from helping them you are encouraging them to be lazy. Not only are you encouraging those who are homeless to stay on the streets, but you are encouraging others to do the same. People who think they have no where to go will think that there is a place on the streets for them. They will think they can live on the streets before trying to sort their own problems out properly.

Yes because if you do instead of feeling guilty you feel encouraging and happy. Adding to this the opposition makes living on the street and begging to be an easy thing and a choice. A lot of people on the street especially now are on the street because of events outside there control. The people who beg on the street live hard lives and while it would be naive to suggest that some of them are not milking the system they are still begging through necessity and not because its easy like the opposition suggest. I wonder if the opposition would chose to live on the streets and also wonder if the speaker fell on hard times would the speaker get off the streets as easily as he suggests and secure a job in a environment were the average person finds it hard to do at the minute or if they too would end up “taking the easy way and begging”

my ex sister in law used to give money to a begger that lived in a town outside Boots chemist, it was later revealed that he had more money than all of us and a better house etc and put all of us to shame. Beggars are just the people that have the guts to scrounge from others. A man on the street actually put on a sign “ITS MY B-DAY GIVE ME BEAR!”

I have very strong opinions about this. I’m for giving to beggars. All the reasons against are extremely dehumanizing towards the people begging. They make negative assumptions about these people simply because they are asking for money. People begging are asking for help. NOBODY wants to beg. NOBODY. Maybe there are some who are stuck and the only way they can make money is through begging and they are stuck in a cycle, I’m sorry if that person is stuck and they need food… I’ll help them eat for another day… somedays I choose not to, and sometimes I choose to give but that’s my choice when to. But to denounce giving to people begging all together… I think is highly unethical and totally NAIVE to the world. I know would call me naive, I say hell no, you are. Go out on the street right now and ask a person begging if they like begging, maybe they’ll give you an answer like ‘it shows me the humanity in the world’, most probably they’ll say hell no.

It’s incredible to think that people think that giving money is encouraging people to continue begging. People beg out of necessity, they’re not thinking ‘oh that person gave me money, I should keep doing it’. They knew they had to beg before you gave them the money, what makes you think that you’re so special that you encouraged them to keep begging. Why the hell are you afraid of helping somebody out? Oh no, I just helped somebody, they’re gonna keep asking for help, what have I done the world is over! Listen to yourself talking. If you don’t wanna give again, just say, hey dude not today and keep your stance, don’t feel guilty. Maybe next time you’ll give cos you got some coins in your pocket.

And oh you will perpetuate a problem? Poverty has existed forever, poverty will continue to exist until the world is over. You are not perpetuating anything. Inequality is the biggest problem in the world today, in fact… you are doing a good deed by equalizing that inequality by sending that money down the pyramid. My god, I’m so against people who don’t believe in giving to beggars.

Even those who say óh I just give food. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE. Oh they’re gonna use it for drugs? Maybe, but don’t they eat too? Or drug addicts only eat drugs? LOL. What the hell do you use your money on? Netflix, going to the cinema to watch a movie on a big screen and get an endorphin rush, have a couple beers. What the hell do you expect from a human being? Not to try and feel good? Anyways, you can tell the drug addicts from the other people that beg, it’s clear as day, just look at their eyes and mouths, in that case buy them food, if not give them money anyways they need someway to get food because 80% of their money goes on drugs, well if I can keep them alive by providing part of that 20% I’m all for it. I need technology to work every day, loads of the materials inside come from the explotation of sub saharan african countries, where the miners get paid less than one euro a day, and the INtel/Apple does nothing to help them, I still buy it. I or You are no better.

Plus nobody wants to be a drug addict. Once that money’s out of my hands it’s their choice what to do with it, I can’t control the world. Anyways who the hell are you to judge, you know the beggar very well do you? LOL. My god. The clarity I see in this is incredible.

Beggars will exist until the end of time, I really wish they didn’t. But this is the burden we must all carry unless we sort out our bigger social issues. Charities do not have enough resources to give homes to all the homeless, you probably never take time to give to a homeless person. Imagine, you walk past a homeless person and they ask for money and you think… oh no it’s okay I give to a homeless person charity every week, and you walk away feeling good about yourself. LOL. That guy sure ain’t receiving any of that at that moment, he’s out there on the floor begging. What a way to hide your guilt. I do not doubt that there are some cheats out there. But to class all beggers as these cheats, is like calling all white people, imperialist colonisers.

Treat people who beg like humans, not like the stealing aliens you think they are. Imagine yourself on those steps after losing it all, maybe they lost their wife and kids in an accident and fell in to a hole of depression, maybe they lost a job and couldn’t find a way to cope, emotianal pain causes these kind of reactions, and we’re all emotional beings, I can’t believe how emotionless we can be towards them. It could happen to anyone, it could happen to you, I would say if you’re against giving to beggars you probably haven’t reached that point so you cannot relate, if you did… please tell me why, I’m truly intrigued.

Anyway’s I just had this discussion with friends. I’ve worked for an international NGO for quite a few years now, and I see poverty on a daily basis. Nobody wants to be in it, nobody wants to beg, begging means you’re in a crisis, just like the people I help on humanitarian missions. And I see no difference between giving food to those in need in a war than to giving a few dollars, euros or pounds to the person on the street begging. Both are in crisis.

Think with you’re heart, not with your fear.

We would love to hear what you think – please leave a comment!

Give to charities,people go to those for food and clothes and when you give them the stuff you were going to give to someone on the street you just know your thing are going to a good cause. If you do this you can walk away with a feeling that you helped a lot of people instead of someone who might be faking.

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Should we give money to beggars?

Published 28 September 2016

Figures show homelessness has reached its highest level for nearly 10 years

A dishevelled man sits in a shop doorway holding an empty coffee cup containing a few pennies.

Next to him is a brown cardboard sign with the words 'homeless' scrawled across it and he calls out: "Can you spare some change, please?"

It is a question many people will have faced when they come across someone begging in the street.

Nottingham City Council believed it had the answer.

But its series of hard-hitting posters telling the public not to hand over their cash to beggars have since been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority .

The ASA said the posters, which claimed money given to beggars would be used on drugs, alcohol and fraud, reinforced "negative stereotypes" and were likely to cause offence.

New figures released on Wednesday showed homelessness in England has risen to its highest level for nearly 10 years.

A total of 15,170 households were classed as homeless in the three months to June 2016 - a jump of 10% on the same period last year, according to figures from Department for Communities and Local Government.

With more people suffering from homelessness, the general public may feel they wish to give cash to those sleeping rough.

Homeless charity Thames Reach says begging often funds drug addictions

But London-based homeless charity Thames Reach said handing over money to beggars "can have fatal consequences".

Its outreach teams estimate 80% of people begging in the capital do so to support a drug habit which is often an addiction to substances including crack cocaine and heroin.

Communications manager Mike Nicholas said: "Most people begging are not individuals in temporary difficulties, but people who are dependent on a begging income.

"This is almost certainly to fund a serious drug habit. There is no need to beg on the streets in 2016.

"As an organisation that has worked with people on the street since 1984, we have seen many lives damaged by hard drugs and alcohol misuse.

"We have even lost people through overdoses in situations where a significant portion of the money they spent on drugs came from members of the public giving loose change

"Giving to people who beg is not a benign act. It can have fatal consequences."

Jerry begged on the streets until he turned his life around with the help of Thames Reach

Jerry's story

Jerry was homeless for around nine years and used to beg to fund his drug habit.

He now has his own flat and is clean from drugs after receiving help from Thames Reach.

He said: "To be quite honest I thought I'd die on the street.

"You wouldn't let a dog have lived the way that I was living. I lived from hand-to-mouth, day-to-day. My health, my hygiene had totally gone. I used day-to-day and I used to keep my survival. My survival out there, my coping mechanism was drink and drugs and it took me to a place I didn't expect to go."

Jerry said he used to wake up every morning "wanting to die".

"[My flat] has given me that chance to get clean, stay clean and look at re-educating myself and going back to work and becoming like everyone I sort of frowned upon," he said.

"Everyone who I took from when I was out there begging and using, to become one of those people."

Government figures for 2015 also found the number of rough sleepers on any one night in England has risen by almost 30% in the last year to 3,569 , external .

Homeless charity Crisis said the rise in homelessness was due to the shortage of housing and ongoing effects of the economic recession combined with government policies , external .

It said those who beg were often struggling with "extreme poverty" but the decision on whether to hand over money was a "personal" choice.

A charity spokesman said: "Whether or not people give money to beggars is a personal decision, but we know from our own clients how important a simple act of kindness can be to those in desperate circumstances.

"Not everyone who begs is homeless and not all homeless people will beg. Nevertheless, people who do beg are often some of the most vulnerable in our society, and many will be struggling with extreme poverty.

"We need better support services for all homeless people, not just the most visible who are on the street."

Both charities say that the public can help the homeless without giving over money to those begging.

They say making a donation to a homeless charity, engaging rough sleepers in conversation or volunteering time are other ways of providing support.

Homeless charities also suggest contacting a local referral or outreach service if there are concerns about any rough sleeper.