Many studies have found that chronically homeless people mostly don’t have jobs, or alternative sources of income. And, we live in a capitalist world, where money is needed to do more or less everything. So how do homeless people get money?
How Do Homeless People Get Money?
There are a couple of ways hobos get money. Let’s touch on some.
Begging
Begging or palm handling is a very common means through which chronically homeless people get money. You should have seen some homeless people living in the streets hold out placards soliciting alms.
Nonetheless, the money they get from outright begging is usually not much. Homeless performers are more likely to get more. Houseless people in general should get much more succour, if not for the stigma. Some people hold that their predicament is a product of their life’s choices, and so intentionally don’t support them.
Menial Jobs
In some countries, homeless people get the opportunity to do menial jobs. These types of jobs usually require no skills. Records show that such jobs are usually exploitative, as their pays are usually meagre.
There are millions of homeless children in Egypt. It has been reported that these children, as an example, get exploited for cheap labour. In Lagos, homeless people, among other things, use wheelbarrow to convey people’s loads for money. With no better options, people without housing who get the opportunity to complete tasks for usually small amounts of money use it, and endure their adverse situation.
Non-Government Organizations
Non-government organizations (NGOs) are a well-known source of succour for people experiencing homelessness. Clearly NGOs don’t only give money, but the items they offer rough sleepers are valuable. These items are usually not only valuable but also essential. And if these people without homes were to spend money on them, they may not even be able to afford them, even though they may be in need of them.
Items NGOs give people living in the streets include money, blankets, clothing including cardigans or other alternatives, tents, packaged foods, medical assistance, sanitary products et cetera.
Government
The citizens are the responsibility of the government. In dire situations such as homelessness, it is an expectation of the government to step in through social initiatives, to alleviate the suffering of the victims of homelessness and/or combat the epidemic all together.
For example, the government of California in four years up to 2022, according to reports, spent a little over 20 billion to combat homelessness. Some of the things they spent money on were housing, healthcare and other essentials.
The Dark Side
Some homeless people are desperate or out of their minds. And so there’s the dark side to how they get what they want, namely stealing, robbery, vandalism et cetera. Yes, some homeless people commit crimes for their survival. There have been some reports that some homeless people have vandalized people’s properties in the US.
In other cases, they may also waylay or rob people. Again, in Lagos, for example, the police have been reported to have cracked down on the abode of unhoused individuals, arrested and prosecuted some of them including innocent ones in retaliation to crimes homeless people were suspected to have committed.
Some more rascally homeless people tax other unhoused people on the ground of security; in other words, in order that the former will hold their peace and not attack, vandalize or steal from the latter.
Read: Challenges of Homeless People
Read: Should We Be Kind or Unkind to Homeless People
Conclusion
This article is meant to give an insight into the lives of homeless people with regards to how they get money. It’s by not means meant to either stigmatize them or spread stereotypes on them.
The foregoing discussed means shouldn’t create the impression that people without accommodation get enough for their welfare. They don’t. Begging and menial jobs don’t normally provide much. NGOs don’t always show up. Governments are not necessarily looking out to help, or help decisively.
Hence, the living standards of unhoused individuals are distinctly sub par. Most of them have sicknesses they can’t medically take care of because they don’t have the needed charge.
The hard fact is homeless people have a lower life expectancy and thousands of them are dying in the streets. Homeless individuals are victims of circumstances and need human help.
It’s important to disclaim, however, that some homeless people are employed. Homelessness has different levels of intensity. Hence, some unhoused people, for example, live in their cars and go to work from there. So they’re not in as much trouble as the chronic ones.
