Don't give money to beggars – help them instead

What is to be done? It's easier to say what shouldn't – easier, at least, as in clearer. That is, you shouldn't give beggars money. The argument for what at first glance can seem like hard-heartedness is not new but worth repeating. Jeremy Swain, chief executive of the London homelessness charity Thames Reach, has lately made the case again under the stark heading Killing with kindness."I am fascinated by the impulses that lead us to give money to people begging on the street," he writes. "In fact, to be candid, I am frequently left incredulous at the justification given for dropping money into the cap next to the sign that says 'hungry and homeless'."
For 10 years Thames Reach and others have been trying to persuade us that handing loose change to sad, dishevelled, beseeching suitors on high streets does more harm than good. Campaigns to stop it are needed, argues Swain, "because of the incontrovertible evidence that the vast majority of people begging on the streets are doing so in order to purchase hard drugs".
Don't give money to beggars – help them instead