A 17-year-old high school student recently conducted a study and found that over 40% of beggars in Shanghai make 1000 (about $130) RMB a month. Huang Yan, a student at the No. 2 High School of East China Normal University, spent 8 months interviewing and photographing beggars in China for a 48-page report.
221 of the 265 beggars interviewed buy their own food with the money that they receive, and about 38% earn 41 to 60 RMB ($5 to $8) a day, and 9% make more than 80 RMB ($10) a day. Huang says that none of the beggars would tell her exactly how much money they made, but she followed them around for several hours a day and estimated their income.
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Huang said that 63 of those interviewed had made a conscious choice to live as beggars and were not forced into the lifestyle because of poverty. Such individuals are known as occupational beggars. According to a government homeless shelter, about 80% of beggars in Shanghai are occupational beggars.
Huang's report won a prize earlier this year at the 22nd Shanghai Technology Creation Competition for Students.
