I should or should I?

Sometimes when I see poor people begging, I find myself in a dilemma. Whether to give them money or not! Everytime this happens to me. I feel sorry for them but never have I been able to come to a conclusion. In fact, it also happens when I see poor, old people working. So many times, it brings tears to my eyes but these are some of the things, I have not been able to make an opinion about. Why does a person beg? Either he does not want to do hard work or does not have an opportunity to do any work. Then what do you do. Give him few coins, and that's it! What difference would that make to his life. The poor, little kid, who keeps asking you for money because he has not eaten anything for days or all his siblings begging around......all of them.....what future do they have? Here I think about my future and my career; and how whatever I have is not enough. I think about what do I want to do in my life. I have choice. They have none. Even survival is a big question mark for them.
Then there is another thing--pity. I pity those people who have to do hard manual labour for living. I don't know whether I should pity them. Is hard work, worthy of sympathy or it is like any other work? What is wrong with hard work? Why my heart sinks when I see a labourer pushing a cart full of load? I don't know. I really have no answer!