Hobson's Choice
Number of people trafficked into servitude or prostitution each year:
4m
Cost of a slave in the American South in 1850, expressed as its current equivalent:
$60,000
Average price paid to her parents for a 14-year-old Thai girl, who will then be sold to a brothel for double the amount:
$2,000
Amount that men will pay each year in the brothel for the 14-year-old girl:
$75,000
Percentage profit that owners will make from the girl during her time at the brothel, which, due to illness, is rarely more than five years:
800
Number of illegal immigrants caught on the Czech-German border in 1998:
28,000
Of the 1.5 million foreigners registered in Japan, number fingerprinted for identification purposes last year:
600,000
Number of rural settlements in England with a population of less than 500 and a parish church:
9,000
Number of Americans without medical insurance:
43m
Percentage of Hong Kong schoolchildren who have attempted suicide:
7.5
Percentage of German households in 1900 consisting of five or more people:
44
Percentage of German households presently consisting of one person:
36
Number of people, on average, whom married couples in Germany know and consider as close friends:
6.9
Number of Christians beatified by Pope John Paul II:
819
Number of saints canonised by Pope John Paul II:
283
Number of saints canonised since records began under Pope Clement VIII, 407 years ago:
302
SOURCES: UNITED NATIONS, TIMES HIGHER EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT, THE ECONOMIST, OVERSEAS JOBS EXPRESS, NEW REPUBLIC, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, TIMES EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT, DEUTSCHLAND, CHURCH TIMES, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
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