"Pancoast and Johnson said getting jobs would mean sacrificing time with their children."
I bet it is difficult to find a job that they only have to work from 6am to 9am and 3pm to 6pm and will pay $1500 take home each week.
IN the DC area, the average panhandler makes $800 per day. One of the new ploys are the groups of people who have a bucket and purport to get money for some charity or worse for the fire department. They pull in double the amount. Some corners, triple.
Near my house, there is a guy with five kids working the corner. I suspect that at night, he prostitutes them out.
Some corners are so valuable that the "charity" groups will pay the single bums a couple hundred to not stand at the corner.
One time, I saw a beggar holding a sign that said, "I cannot offer you anything for your money, except prayers." I drove by later that hour and saw him talking on a cell phone (back when cell phones were too expensive for the average person).
I NEVER give panhandlers money any more. I am generous to the Baltimore Rescue Mission, though.
I once stopped at a guy at a corner with a "Will Work for Food" sign and offered him a job mowing lawns. He laughed at me and said "and why would I do that when I make three or four hundred dollars a day doing this?"
Good question.