How Much Do They Make? A Systematic Review of Income Generated From Begging

• Author: Daniel Reinhard
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/10575677211036498
• Published date: 01 March 2023
• Date: 01 March 2023
• Subject Matter: Original Articles

Original Article

How Much Do They Make?

A Systematic Review

of Income Generated

From Begging

Daniel Reinhard

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Abstract

Panhandling income has not been well reviewed, though doing so would be beneficial for several

reasons. Understanding beggar income may aid in addressing misconceptions about the activity,

clarify the financial motivation for organized or forced begging, and allow for clearer comparisons

to other kinds of shadow work like prostitution, binning, or selling drugs. This study presents a

systematic review of panhandling income by using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic

Reviews and Meta-Analysis and PROSPERO guidelines to aid in identifying, screening, assessing, and

including research that provides quantitative income information about panhandling. Income is

adjusted for inflation, and international studies are converted to USD via standard exchange rate

and via purchasing power parity values. Ultimately, 38 studies are included for final analysis. The 38

studies are divided into United States specific (n¼15) and all other countries (n¼23). In adjusted

2020 USD, the economic yield from panhandling is most often $2–$16 per hour, $20–$60 per day,

and $200–$500 per month, substantial variation exists. Economic comparisons to other forms of

shadow work and future research directions are provided.

Keywords

panhandling, begging, income, systematic review

Exaggerations abound surrounding begging, with assertions made that prolific beggars,

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are

capable of swindling individuals (Теоkharov et al., 2019) of large sums of money. These prolific

beggars are sometimes called “professional beggars”(Borland, 2009; Dean, 1999; Lankenau, 1999a;

Rao & Bogaert, 1970; Sailaja & Rao, 2016) and numerous media accounts detail beggars reliably

collecting large sums of money (Borland, 2009; Hill, 2009, Smith, 2005). These accounts persist

despite some academic sources finding that the activity generates as much or less money than a

minimum wage job (Lankenau, 1999a; Lein et al., 2008; Smith, 2005), though this is not always the

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School of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA

Corresponding Author:

Daniel Reinhard, School of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Texas State University, 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX

78666, USA.

Email: djr109@txstate.edu

International CriminalJustice Review

ª2021 Georgia State University

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DOI: 10.1177/10575677211036498

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2023, Vol. 3 1) 66 86

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case (Goldstein, 1993, p. 337; Spears, 2013, pp. 73–74). Studies also report conflicting results about

whether individuals would rather work a minimum wage job than panhandle (Goldstein, 1993; Lein

et al., 2008; Wamstad, 2007).

However, no study has comprehensively reviewed the amount of money that panhandlers may

earn. Smith (2005) has come the closest, though income was of secondary interest as their research

related to regulations affecting panhandling throughout the United States. Numerous studies exist

that concern panhandling income (Adriaenssens & Hendrickx, 2011; Bose & Hwang, 2003; Gos-

wami et al., 2013) but they typically assess the phenomenon in a localized manner and only provide

a cursory review of literature on the subject. The cursory review of literature is also true of studies

that examine panhandling throughout a country or across several cities (Lee & Farrell, 2003;

Poremski et al. 2015; Snow et al., 1996).

There are several justifications for a review of panhandling income. First, no review currently

exists and research reporting panhandling income is disjointed and often contradictory. Begging is

an ancient phenomenon (Jamil et al., 2019) and occurs all over the world; numerous conditions

affect and are affected by begging. A review on this income will synthesize these studies and

provide insight into topics related to begging that may not have been considered otherwise. This

synthesis will also help to dispel misconceptions about how much is earned, and potentially shed

light on the activity as a form of fraud or financial manipulation of others. Second, panhandling is a

type of “shadow work”(Lei, 2013; Snow & Anderson, 1993; Snow et al., 1996) or illegitimate form

of employment. By understanding the income generated, it allows for a more thorough comparison

to other forms of shadow work like prostitution, busking,

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binning,

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selling blood plasma, or others

(Lee & Farrell, 2003; Reinhard, 2017; Slesnick et al., 2018). Third, some people who beg are

victims of human trafficking and forced to do so (International Labour Office, 1998; Jafri, 2005;

Jamil et al., 2019; Tamas et al., 2013). Understanding the amount of money earned through the

activity may provide insight into the financial contribution to gangs (Natarajan et al., 2015) or other

criminal organizations that may have a financial incentive to traffic persons for this activity.

This study has one research question and two accompanying goals. The research question is how

much money is acquired from panhandling or begging? The first goal is to provide a value, at time

intervals if necessary, of income likely to be earned through the solicitation of money from other

persons on the street. The second goal is to exhaustively locate all relevant studies pertinent to the

research question so as to create a document capable of aiding those interested in taking stock of

panhandling as a phenomenon. Nuanced topics within panhandling research include repertoires

(Lankenau, 1999a), ethnic nepotism (Batovskaya et al., 2000), characteristics of donors (Muñoz

& Potter, 2014), issues of self-identity (Abebe, 2008) and humiliation (Lankenau, 1999b), the

activity as a form of fraud (Adriaenssens & Hendrickx, 2011), and many others. This study hopes

to facilitate the future study of panhandling. This study remains neutral on the legitimacy of the

activity and does not approach the topic as an acceptable or unacceptable action.

Background

There are four topics to address before considering panhandling income. First, it is necessary to

define the phenomenon of panhandling and begging. All homeless persons are not beggars and all

beggars are not homeless. Second, panhandling activities, repertoires, strategies, and classifications

are discussed. Many studies that report panhandling income address activities engaged in during the

panhandling process (e.g., Lein et al., 2008; Lankenau, 1999a; Tladi, 2017). Third, panhandling

locations and a brief overview of the geography of panhandling is provided. This is done because it

is unlikely that income is generated randomly irrespective of where one panhandles. In other words,

panhandlers are unlikely to earn the same amount of money in residential neighborhoods as they are

along arterial roadways next to traffic lights. The fourth topic to address is “law of one price”(LOP)

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Reinhard