WEBVTT - What Does It Cost to Run Santa's Workshop?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum Here, the holiday season can

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<v Speaker 1>be magical, joyous, festive, and expensive, very very expensive. And

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<v Speaker 1>if you think we mere mortals have a hard time

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<v Speaker 1>keeping up with the food, shopping, gift giving and otherwise

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<v Speaker 1>high priced merriment, imagine how Santa Claus feels. Well. A

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<v Speaker 1>London based company by the name of True Luxury Travel

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<v Speaker 1>did just that, putting themselves in the shoes of Jolly

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<v Speaker 1>ol st Nick and plotting out his Christmas budget. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>many holidays are celebrated around this time of year, and

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<v Speaker 1>consumers who don't even have reindeer tend to spend a lot.

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<v Speaker 1>According to a Gallop report from earlier in December, of

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<v Speaker 1>Americans planned to spend an average of eight hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>sixty seven dollars on gifts this year. This number has

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<v Speaker 1>held pretty steady since, but it hardly accounts for the

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<v Speaker 1>time and effort necessary to produce, package, and ship all

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<v Speaker 1>those gifts all over the world. While some may believe

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<v Speaker 1>that all that magic happens through factories and shipping agencies,

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<v Speaker 1>others know that the real magic happens in the North

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<v Speaker 1>Pole here's what Santa could be spending to fulfill all

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<v Speaker 1>those dreams. Okay, there are approximately two billion children in

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<v Speaker 1>the world, give or take a few hundred million, and

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<v Speaker 1>because a fair number of non Christians are known to

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<v Speaker 1>celebrate Christmas, that means that approximately of the world's population

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<v Speaker 1>commemorates that day. That adds up to about nine million

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<v Speaker 1>kids getting gifts on Christmas, and not just one toy each,

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<v Speaker 1>mind you. Let's set the number of gifts that kids

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<v Speaker 1>receive that day at a nice, even and arbitrary ten.

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<v Speaker 1>That means Santa's workshop is churning out approximately nine billion toys, books,

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<v Speaker 1>and ugly sweaters. Some are more costly to make than others.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you assume even a very low two and

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<v Speaker 1>a half euros per gift, that's twenty two point five

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<v Speaker 1>billion euros on the whole lot, which is about twenty

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<v Speaker 1>three point nine billion U S dollars as of this recording.

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<v Speaker 1>And Santa is good, but he's not a one man show.

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<v Speaker 1>A true luxury travel estimated that he'd need around one

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<v Speaker 1>thirty two thousand elves to do all the menial labor

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<v Speaker 1>in the workshop. And now, of course, we do not

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<v Speaker 1>have numbers about the wage rates at the North Pole.

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<v Speaker 1>But let's take, for example, the federal minimum wage here

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<v Speaker 1>in the United States, which is seven dollars and twenty

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<v Speaker 1>five cents an hour. We'd hope that Santa is giving

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<v Speaker 1>his elves a competitive pay rate and robust benefits package.

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<v Speaker 1>But even at that bare minimum, if all those elves

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<v Speaker 1>are working forty hours a week, year round to ensure

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<v Speaker 1>those gifts go out on Christmas Eve, that's fifteen thousand

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<v Speaker 1>and eighty dollars per year per elf. For an army

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<v Speaker 1>of elves, that's about one point nine billion a year.

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<v Speaker 1>And again with hope, it's a lot higher. Estimates for

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<v Speaker 1>the cost of employing a factory worker for a year

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<v Speaker 1>in North Pole adjacent Finland ranged around forty one thousand

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<v Speaker 1>euros or over forty three thousand U S dollars including benefits,

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<v Speaker 1>so it could be completely reasonable to assume three times

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<v Speaker 1>our initial estimate, or around six billion US dollars. And

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<v Speaker 1>then you have to keep the workshops lights on and

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<v Speaker 1>the heat. The North Pole chill is no joke, and

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<v Speaker 1>the workshop must be massive and estimated one point two

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<v Speaker 1>million square feet or about a hundred and eleven thousand

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<v Speaker 1>square meters and so assuming US prices, the clauses could

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<v Speaker 1>be shelling out another one point six billion on electricity

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<v Speaker 1>and two point two million on natural gas, so another

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<v Speaker 1>one point eight billion total. And let's not forget those reindeer.

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<v Speaker 1>The aforementioned travel company relied on the estimated cost of

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<v Speaker 1>owning a horse to calculate the cost of caring for reindeer.

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<v Speaker 1>The average cost of maintaining a horse in the US

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<v Speaker 1>is three thousand, nine hund dollars a year, and Santa

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<v Speaker 1>has at least nine reindeer, including Rudolph. Also, if we

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<v Speaker 1>assume santa sleigh is as expensive to maintain as a

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<v Speaker 1>luxury car, then he's shelling out at least one thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>eight hundred dollars a year to keep things running smoothly

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<v Speaker 1>all told, including a range of other factors including snacks

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<v Speaker 1>for the staff, but workshop overhead and suit upkeep. True

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<v Speaker 1>Luxury Travel estimated Santa's yearly budget at forty seven billion

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<v Speaker 1>US dollars a year. They're not a sponsored, by the way,

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<v Speaker 1>they just wrote a delightful blog post. Today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on the article Santa Claus's workshop budget will blow

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<v Speaker 1>your mind on how Stuff Works dot com, written by

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<v Speaker 1>Michelle Konstantinovsky. Brain Stuff it's production of I heart Radio

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<v Speaker 1>in partnership with how stuff Work dot Com, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio,

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