Begging as a business?

It's not a joke, but serious business, in Karachi.  It is one of the most well networked, controlled and professionally managed businesses in the metropolis – so much so that it would beat Karachi's famed postal service in organisation and efficiency.

In economics, the cycle of poverty is the "set of factors or events by which poverty, once started, is likely to continue unless there is outside intervention."[1]

The cycle(s) of poverty has been defined as a phenomenon where poor families become trapped in poverty for at least three generations. These families have either limited or no resources.

Poverty is an ethical concept, not a statistical one. Inherent in the term "poverty", when applied to human beings, is the notion of a life situation that should not exist. It is not only lack of roti, kapra aur makan—food, cloth and shelter. Amartya Sen aptly sums up many dimensions of poverty as lack of "capability"—capability to overcome violence, hunger, ignorance, illness, physical hardship, injustice and voicelessness. The World Bank has argued that poverty often lies in the absence of opportunity, empowerment and security, and not just the absence of food on the table.