How Lucrative Is Panhandling?

Yesterday, the headlines in Miami reported that panhandlers received $40 million dollars in spare change last year. But don't let the big, round numbers and fancy reporting fool you. When you consider the number of homeless people in this region, this boils down to roughly $35 bucks per person per day. Hardly enough to live on.

This story was reported today by the  Miami Herald reported. The survey, conducted by New York-based pollster Zogby International, was commissioned by the Miami-Dade Homeless Trust, which counts the county's homeless population twice a year.

Curious about this seemingly large number, I looked up this organization's 2009 Point in Time Count results for Miami-Dade County. On one night in January, the organization counted 4,333 people in shelters, supportive housing, and on the streets. So while $40 million seems like a lot of change, it boils down to roughly $35 per day (assuming someone panhandles 52 weeks per year, 5 days per week).

The organization who commissioned the survey put a positive spin on these findings. Homeless Trust Chairman Ron Book was quoted ,"We're thrilled and humbled with the level of generosity that the people who live in Miami-Dade are showing toward the homeless."

Sure - it's nice to know how many quarters Miami residents are flipping to panhandlers (160 million, in case you were wondering). But I'm still trying to figure out what the point of this study was. How does this new information change anything about how the homeless are served in Miami-Dade county? Or the plan to combat homelessness in that region? How would things change if the study found the number to be $4 million, or $400 million? It's unlikely that any systematic changes in services to the homeless will be made as a direct result of this study. So what's the point?

Seems the only thing to come out of this study is that perfectly round, sticky number: $40 million bucks. If you ask me, most people would consider this a reason not to give to panhandlers.