[dazc]

I have seen some of these hostels in the UK and they are definitely not the kind of place you'd want to live. As a single male with no issues you're certainly not guaranteed to get a place either.

Another problem is people coming from different areas, say from North to South, who are just offered a bus ticket back there.

That said, in the UK at least, if you have no income you'll get the same level of cash benefit as anyone else so there is absolutely no need to be begging for money. Those that do either have a dependency problem or are just scamming.