It’s not something often associated with a country like this, but begging is on the rise in Denmark

The number of people begging on the streets of Denmark has risen, according to a new Megafon poll.

The poll shows that 70 percent of respondents have been asked for spare change in the last year.

The poll also showed that 58 percent of people believe that the number of beggars has risen in the last five years – a view that is shared by Deputy Chief Superintendent Mogens Lauridsen of the Copenhagen Police.

‘After the expansion of the EU in 2007, we saw a noticeable influx of beggars from Eastern European countries,’ Lauridsen said to Politiken newspaper.

A police spokesman said street begging in Copenhagen had developed a seasonal trend and in summer, it was usually Romanian woman with children doing it.

Even though people believe there are more beggars, they are less inclined to hand over money according to the poll, in which 12 percent said they would give money to a beggar.

Reasons for avoiding handing over spare change included not wanting to feel pressured into doing so and not wanting to contribute to alcoholism. Some believed it was the state’s responsibility to look after the disadvantaged.

Steen Viggo Jensen, a former homeless man who now sits on the Council for the Socially Marginalised, said giving beggars money did them a disservice as it kept them begging and did nothing to improve their way of life.

There is currently no known figure for the actual number of beggars on the streets of the country.