bonjour, simplement : demander de l'aide ou demander la charité selon le contexte karina

Hello ! Yes, there are words in French to convey "asking for handouts". Speaking of a beggar for example , we would say "aumône", e.g. "demander l'aumône" or colloquially "faire la manche". Speaking of "government handouts", we'd use "les allocations" ou "les aides financières de l'État". See you ! :)

"Demander la charité" est un bon équivalent, je pense: http://context.reverso.net/translation/english-french/handouts