At what price are Christmas toys made?
As Christmas approaches, brands and distributors of toys are in the starting blocks. To meet demand on time, Chinese workers who make 80% of the toys sold in the world have to work overtime for wages that are still very low and in extremely precarious working conditions, according to the NGO Peuples Solidaires and Sacom.
This year, despite the crisis, parents should not yet sacrifice the sacrosanct toy budget: like last year, at Christmas, French families should spend no less than 247 euros per child. But at the other end of the chain, Chinese workers, who make more than 80% of the toys in the world, will see little color. Because to produce in the prices and deadlines set by the principals that are the big brands (Mattel, Disney, etc) or distributors (Toys'R Us, Carrefour, Wal-Mart, etc) of Chinese factories multiply indeed breaches of safety and workers' rights rules, according to Peuples solidaires. Or rather women workers because, since this year, recruitment has become "sexually discriminatory"; young women are considered more "docile and productive" by factory management, says the Chinese NGO Sacom (see box).
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