its one of those things that sounds plausible if you're not familiar with homeless people and don't think about it too hard but falls apart on any scrutiny.

I guess the idea is that a parent is both garnering more sympathy and covering more ground by having their kids beg with them? but the kids are probably getting food and an education at school if they do go, and the state will at least try to come down on the parents if they don't, so it really doesn't make any sense, even if you believe homeless people would do that which, no, they aren't greedy monsters that don't care about their kids or anything else but money, that's capitalists...