I know this topic has gone ... off-topic , but i can't help but to chime in on the whole Chinese suicide thing. There has been this whole misconception about Chinese labor forces being "slave labor" , and the deplorable conditions under which they work.
Back when the Foxconn suicides were at a peak , and it was in the media everyday, I decided to do a bit of research. When I say research , I mean internet searches and reading. Here are just a few facts that have always seemed to be left out of most news stories.
The short:
Foxconn Shenzhen employs 420,000 employees .. Employee suicide rate WELL below nation average.
Foxconn pays the family of suicide 110,000 yuan ($17402.00 USD)
Foxconn gives FREE food and FREE dorm style housing
The average American employed person worked 46 hours per week, and 38 percent worked more than 50 hours.
It seems to me that the major contributing factor here is not treatment (though I suppose it may be harsh). Most of these employees get WAY more perks than their American counterparts. Most of these employees work roughly the same week hours as their American counterparts (without the daily commute). It seems to me to more of a problem with the $17402 payout one may be able to send to their family upon death.
The Long:
"Foxconn employs hundreds of thousands of employees, including the almost 420,000 at the plant in Shenzhen where the suicides are occurring, which is the size of a fairly sized city in most parts of the world. Most of these employees are migrant workers, coming into cities from rural China to find a job. China’s rate of suicide, according to the most recent figures (1999) from the World Health Organization (WHO), are 13 men out of every 100,000 and 14.8 suicides per 100,000 people for women every year. Given the number of people working at the factory, you could expect anywhere between 30 and 56 people committing suicide at Foxconn every year. Considering the fact that the year is almost halfway through and there have only been 10 suicides, Foxconn is well below the national average"
(source http://www.globalsurance.com/blog/insurance-cover-limitations-related-to-suicide-the-foxconn-perspective-111720.html)
"Foxconn finds itself in the position of continuing to pay 110,000 yuan (£11,000) in compensation to every person who jumps. For a depressed Foxconn employee, who still feels an obligation to repay his family for the cost of his or her upbringing and who would like to give his parents a lump sum that could transform their lives, this is a very tempting sum.
For a worker on the basic rate of 900 yuan a month, the compensation amounts to the equivalent of over ten years of gross salary. For a worker who is doing overtime and earning 1500 yuan a month, the compensation is still worth six years of salary."
(source http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/malcolmmoore/100041277/why-foxconn-cannot-stop-its-suicides/)
"If an army marches on its stomach, so does Foxconn. This kitchen, and the cafes around the campus, are what differentiates this campus from any other factory I’ve seen. Most factories have cafeterias, usually run by a caterer like Sodexho, but except for a few licensed purveyors in the factory most of the food comes through this efficient kitchen. Food is, for the most part, subsidized if not free and the employees get room and board as part of their work plan. With few expenses the little money they make can go back to parents at home or into savings. On the whole it’s a patriarchal system that had worked for decades, ensuring loyalty at the price of ten hour workdays and around-the-clock work when major orders come through."
(source http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/22/the-future-of-foxconn-200-pigs/)
"The average employed person worked 46 hours per week, and 38 percent worked more than 50 hours."
(source http://whyfiles.org/shorties/076sleep/index.html)
