Child Beggars: Innocent Kids Who Are Forced to Solve Their Parents’ Problem
This random thought popped out when I dined out with my dad at a small seafood restaurant. The restaurant was on the side of the road, so you can imagine how many beggars and street buskers who visit the customers for pennies.
I was eating when a child approached me and gave me a small paper with a sentence: “Tolong bantu saya untuk makan dan biaya hidup sehari-hari”. I didn’t give my money for the first time.
It’s not the end of the story. After 10–15 minutes, there was another (second) child who approached me with a similar paper. Then the third, and fourth, and five children… within 1 hour of sitting. I gave my money when the fourth child approached me — hoping that there would be no disturbance after this. However, my expectation didn’t happen — other different children kept approaching me within an interval of 10–15 minutes.
Feeling irritated because of my disturbed eating experience and seeing those innocent children, I kept thinking about it even until I got home and opened my laptop to write this. So yea this is purely my opinion without any research or data.
I think there are two possible reasons for children begging. First, they are forced by their parents, or maybe come from their own initiatives to help their parents in getting money. Second, they are just orphans on the street who are collected and forced by “bandar” to work.
I’m interested in the first phenomenon. I think it’s a vicious circle: their parents are poor, the children help their parents (or being forced) in getting money, the children don’t experience adequate education, the children most likely will be poor when they’re adults, then the cycle repeats. There’s a chance that these children keep being beggars either because they don’t have adequate skills and education to work in formal/ informal sectors or the mindset that has been instilled (begging is easier than work).
I think it will be really challenging to cut this vicious circle. Let’s map out several potential solutions (from extreme until conventional/ normal regulation).
First, parents who can’t afford their daily necessities are prohibited from having children, so the cycle of poverty stops. On the other hand, this regulation could violate human rights and freedom, so let’s cross this out.
Second, parents are prohibited from child begging and forced to send their children to school. This couldn’t be effective because there’s an opportunity cost to go to school — if they don’t, they can get money from begging. Both parents and children are incentivized to keep begging instead of pursuing education that couldn’t give instant gratification (re: money).
Third, empower the parents by workshops to improve their skills so they can stop begging (or using their children to beg) and work. Some of them might not be interested to try it because their mindset is already shaped — begging is easier and effortless rather than work. Some of them might be interested with a hope to improve their family financial condition (just my hypothesis). I think this is worth considering and evaluating as a potential policy.
Fourth, incentivize the parents by “paying” them if they send their children to school. In economics, there is a common principle that people are moved by incentive. This cash payment (in economics terms: CCT or Conditional Cash Transfer) could be an effort to offset the opportunity cost to go to school (that I’ve discussed in the second point) and incentivize them. This program might need a huge budget, complicated technicality to implement, and risk of moral hazard, but I think this is worth considering as India, Mexico, and other developing countries also have this program.
All in all, I think the government and society should be aware and more serious in tackling child beggars, as they are our future generation to develop our nation. It would be nice if they can come out from the cycle of poverty, experience higher education, and actualize themselves.
I didn’t expect my 1 hour dinner at that seafood restaurant would make me think and write about this for another 1 hour.
