If most people that “panhandle” spend as much time looking for a job as they did panhandling....they wouldn’t need to panhandle, because they would be employed. Even working at Taco Bell has to pay more than sitting on the side of the road all day begging for Federal Reserve Notes.
Depends on the location. When we lived in Japan, one of their reporters went to New York and marveled at how there could be so many "Help Wanted" signs around Manhattan and so many panhandlers.
The intrepid reporter approached the panhandlers and asked them this very question. The results ranged from downright disgusting to humorous. One 30 something black guy was particularly funny. He looked at the reporter like he was daft and said "You know what you get for putting in an eight hour day at one of these places and working your a** off? Maybe 60 or 70 dollars a day by the time they take all the taxes out. Do you want somebody to own you body and soul for 60 or 70 dollars a day? Hell, I can make that kind of money in two or three hours of panhandling!"
Actually panhandling "pays" way more than a typical low end service job. There used to be a woman who worked the street near my office. I used to feel pity for her story of homelessness, etc. until one day I saw her at the end of her "shift" putting her tattered coat into her backpack and taking out a nice coat. Then she climbed onto an expensive bicycle and drove off. Paying more attention to her I saw her buying breakfast with plenty of cash early in the AM and then doing her job for about five hours. She pulled in from 10 to 40 dollars per hour.
As for the panhandlers that aren't tricking you, you can assume whatever money you give them goes straight to the cash register at a liquor store or to the nearest crack, meth or heroin dealer. In my experience most of those folks don't want food, just money to spend on their addiction. They need real help, not cash to enable their substance abuse.
“If most people that “panhandle” spend as much time looking for a job as they did panhandling....they wouldn’t need to panhandle, because they would be employed.”
My son (presently studying accounting), has observed the same thing as you. He has wondered (half-jokingly) about asking panhandlers to sell their sign to him, as the haggling would help them develop business acumen.
Never to be accused of not having a morbid sense of humor, He also joked about turning them into a humorous coffee-table book documenting the sob stories, that he could sell to the heartless “one percent-ers”.
Chip off the ol’ block, he is.