French pawnshops give back for Christmas

In an act of solidarity and charity during Christmas, a municipally owned pawnshop in southern France gives back the objects to those who pawned them to make ends meet. Some 77 people are eligible to benefit, who have mostly pawned small pieces of gold jewellery that have more sentimental than resale value.

The city of Avignon, which owns the pawnshops, has allocated 6,000 euros for the effort. Only municipalities have had the right to operate pawnshops in France, under laws passed during the reign of Louis XIII in the early 17th century to combat exploitation. Some five million people live under the poverty line in France, an increase of 1.4 million in two decades, according to the independent anti-poverty group Inequality Observatory.