Begging: Poverty or Habit Unraveling Public Perspective from South Punjab

Abstract

Begging is defined as the intentional act of imploring others to grant favors often in the form of money with minimum or no expectation of reciprocation. Sometimes, they also demand the provision of food, drinks, clothing, cigarettes and many other small items. They often operate in the public places to attract more attention of the common people. Its major types include needy, habitual, and professional beggars. In the modern world, there observe a great increase in the number of beggars that became a concerning point for the common people and governments. However, this study conducts a survey to ask for the opinion of the common citizens to that whether poverty is the main cause of begging or whether it is a habitual behavior that people adopt irrespective of their economic status. After survey, structured questionnaire was developed, encompassing Likert-scale questions designed to gauge public opinions on the causes and consequences of begging in Pakistan. This questionnaire was administered to a sample size of 300 people, covering diverse age groups from different regions of South Punjab. Uni-variate (frequency distribution and percentage and Bivariate analysis (Chi square and Gamma Statistics) was carried out. Huge majority (95.0%) of the respondents were of age 20-25 years; (75.7%) of the respondents were female; (64%) of the respondents were language are saraiki speak;(96%) of the respondents were unmarried;(65.7%) their occupational were selected to (other)..; (82.3%) were education selected to (other..);( 40.0) of the respondents were agreed to individuals facing extreme poverty;(33%) of the respondents were strongly agreed the individuals facing extreme poverty;( 29.3%) of the respondents were agreed to they faced basic necessities such as food; (53.3%)of the respondents were seeking alternative means of income; (35.3%) of the respondents were neutral response rather than a habitual inclination. Bivariate analysis showed highly significant more will be poverty in the community vs more will be begging; More will be employment opportunities in the community vs less will be begging prevalence.