Chinese Girls’ Toil Brings Pain, Not Riches

China’s shift to capitalism has brought huge rewards to many Chinese, but for 150 million unemployed peasants, poverty is still a harsh reality. Job prospects are limited, and a lucky few find jobs with multinational corporations, which offer good pay and high labor standards. In China’s export sector, however, sweatshops and low pay are much more common. Lured by promises of good pay, two rural teenage girls moved to the city of Anshan to work at a false eyelash factory, but found working conditions unbearable. Bound by contract to stay at the factory for a year, the girls escaped through a window, breaking their legs and provoking a storm of publicity. Though government officials had promoted the eyelash factory, the state has not investigated the case. – YaleGlobal