NSU Research Contributions

Title : Determinants of Beggars' Income in Dhaka city: Do the Disabled Beggars Earn More than the Able-bodied Beggars

Authors : GOUR GOSWAMI, PRIANKA MAHARIN MUSA, SARAH NISHAT, LAYLA NUSRAT BANU, URMEE DAS GUPTA

Abstract : Begging has always been a major way out for the helplesspoor and the disabled.However, not all beggarsare poor or motivated into begging by pouerty or disability and not all the poor are beggars.This, therefore,necessiiates the needto reexamine the concept of begging and related issues.This paper makes an arremprro investigatethe characteristicsof beggarsin Dhaka city and searchfor an explanation why peopledo beg' in general,and what determinesthe incomedifferentialbetweenthe disabledand the able-bodjedbeggars,in particular.Using a stratifiedrandomsampleof 477 beggatsacross l0 different parts of Dhaka city in Spring 2012, wc exarninethe presenceof significant income difference between the disabled and the able-bodied beggarsby using one way ANOVA and two samplet-tests.It hasbeen found that the disabled beggars earn more from begging than the able-bodied beggars. More particularly,one samplet-testfound that while incomeof disabledbeggarslie abovethe international poverty line of $1.25lday, income of able bodied b.gg-s do not. Multivariateanalysisrevealsthatbeinga maleof working agewith disabiiiiy is the most favorablefeaturesthat help attractmore alms. It also revealsthe differencesin income from beggingamong different beggingsites.From the frequencyanalysisof the sample data we observethat majority of the beggarsare illiterate,landiess,ind migratedfrom the rural partsof the country which are plaguedby high poverty.The reseirch finding will be helpful in formulating effective policies designedfor combatingthe issueoi begging

Journal : Journal of Society, Economy and Development	Volume : 1	Year : 2013	Issue : 1
Pages : 35-54	City :	Edition :	Editors :
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