Children making clothing

[NMH]

This stuff about Primark, and how scandalous it now is that child-labour is used to make some of the clobber - why is this such an issue?
In some parts of the world it's the way a family can exist and make a couple of quid. So, they do that in some parts of the world, otherwise they are now going to hope that strangers 'sponsoring a child' will knock on their door.

Next we'll be watching programs about starving kids and sad third world families with not enough to eat and having the parents scraping to make £3 a day while their children beg or steal. Then, you'll be asked to donate for these countries so that some charity organisation can cream 90% of the money for "administration costs" and be rolling in it.

Hey, I would rather pay a Bangladeshi child to make my t-shirt than some machinated Hong-Kong overproducer who floods the market so that the product ends up so cheap as to make all the child-produced ones become just another piece of unsaleable surplus that's not even getting 20p as a car-polishing rag.

This world is mental, and the tv is trying to tell me how clandestine the conditions are for these children and how 'misused' and exploited they are.

Am I right, or should these kids/families really be stopped from volunteering to be exploited??

 

[Barrel of Fun]

It is a vicious cycle. The children do not get an education and a chance to BE children if they are working all hours for pittance.

Surely if there are less people in the workforce then the companies will be forced to pay higher salaries (but still remain cheaper than the west) to the workforce?

 

[NMH]

It is a vicious cycle. The children do not get an education and a chance to BE children if they are working all hours for pittance.

Surely if there are less people in the workforce then the companies will be forced to pay higher salaries (but still remain cheaper than the west) to the workforce?

I sympathise for couples where the woman now has to go out and work instead of doing housework while hubby pulled in enough for both (and then some).
We have been conned, so that companies can pay less to more people

 

[Barrel of Fun]

I would recommend reading 'No Logo' by Naomi Klein. It explored the behaviour of the huge corporations that are only interest in one thing and one thing only. Need to get round to purchasing her new book 'Shock Doctrine'. Intelligent writer and a honey to boot.

 

[Robbie G]

The thing that always pisses me off is when they say how much they earn in Pound Sterling.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

pack of 3 plain t-shirts for a fiver

can't complain

 

[Barrel of Fun]

The thing that always pisses me off is when they say how much they earn in Pound Sterling.

I agree that it is very misleading as 30p a day will buy you more in a less developed country, but it is putting the costs of the big firms into context and the profit margin or prices they are able to charge.

 

[REDLAND]

its a bit of a toughy this one, for many cultures children working/child labour is quite normal among poor families, personally I think its sad that they do. I only buy brands that I know are not made by child labour but that's really for the good of my conscience , not a crusade on the countries where this is law.

 

[beorhthelm]

It is a vicious cycle. The children do not get an education and a chance to BE children if they are working all hours for pittance.

with their new found education what will they do when they leave school? probably work in the same cloths factories for a pittance. and how else are we going to get £2 t-shirts or £20 suits?

i think its all rather preachy of the west to worry about child labour, the focus should be on conditions and pay rather than the age of workers.

 

[Gully]

its a bit of a toughy this one, for many cultures children working/child labour is quite normal among poor families, personally I think its sad that they do. I only buy brands that I know are not made by child labour but that's really for the good of my conscience , not a crusade on the countries where this is law.

Yeah, I bought a load of socks and grundies from Primark in the belief that no child labour was used to produce them...looks like I got that one wrong!

 

[Juan Albion]

Next we'll be watching programs about starving kids and sad third world families with not enough to eat and having the parents scraping to make £3 a day while their children beg or steal.

Sadly three quid is a lot MORE than some of them make a day. I have visited places where the average annual salary is only $100. I'm sure there are plenty of other places like that.

Although I haven't discussed this issue with children forced to work, I have seen children working the streets (in all senses of the phrase). I have also talked to women who work in sweat shops to make us cheap clothes. They don't have any choice but to work there if they are to feed their families, especially in areas where it is the norm for the men to run off and abandon their responsibilities.

 

[SeagullEd]

I thought exactly that.

HOw the hell Primark could say they didn't have a clue child labour was being used I don't know. But then they just withdraw those contracts. It is not as if the children have an oppurtunity to go to school but have thought, hmmmm you know what, i'll work in shit conditions. So now, not only have they made the children loose income, but they've made their parents loose it. Great solution to the world's problems primark.

So CLEARLY they need money or they wouldn't have put themselves in that situation. So now what is the alternative? Well there's one for girls which doesn't bare thinking about, or searching for scraps up and down roads etc (haardly safe) or go without.

Would it not have been SO much better for these large companies who have the ability to police it to say that they will use child labourers. And if each child can make x items per day they get a free meal on top of their wages or even free English Lessons. It would hardly cost that much. Add 10 p onto each item and be a forward-thinking company. They're in the best position to offer children work; they're a huge company and can regulate it.

 

[kalinski]

but that's the point £5 isn't the true cost. Once you have children and want the best for them, it is criminal to force someone else's child to not have an education just so products are cheaper for us. I would also recommend people read "No Logo"

 

[coventrygull]

I am shocked that anyone can defend Child labour or even the exploitation of adult labour.

 

[sten_super]

I agree with SeagullEd; the solution is not to simply CANCEL the contracts; these firms should be looking to improve working conditions, improve the pay that these people are receiving. Then you may get to a situation where a family don't need to send their children out to work in order to be able to eat. What Primark are instead chasing are the cheap production costs, without (supposedly) the knowledge of HOW these costs are so low.

 

[REDLAND]

I am shocked that anyone can defend Child labour or even the exploitation of adult labour.

""A UNICEF study found that 5,000 to 7,000 Nepalese children turned to prostitution after the United States banned that country's carpet exports in the 1990s""

 

[coventrygull]

""A UNICEF study found that 5,000 to 7,000 Nepalese children turned to prostitution after the United States banned that country's carpet exports in the 1990s""

Whether they are exploited for making clothes, carpets or sex its wrong. Maybe the US could of looked into the situation and stopped child exploitation by paying a fair price rather than looking for something cheap. A radical solution would be to make our own clothes.

 

[Gully]

I think this highlights a problem that even exists in our culture, that of sub-contracting, you agree with someone to provide a product or service but they then find a cheaper source and pocket the difference. The issue here is that the sub-contractors are using children, there clearly needs to be greater monitoring of who is actually carrying out the work, that is to say making the clothes.

 

[REDLAND]

Whether they are exploited for making clothes, carpets or sex its wrong. Maybe the US could of looked into the situation and stopped child exploitation by paying a fair price rather than looking for something cheap. A radical solution would be to make our own clothes.

then these families would starve to death, these children work because their parents can't and obviously can't get income support like we do in Britain. The inputuse has to be from the clothing companies to improve wages and working conditions from the factories they source their clothing from. Obviously this would mean a price rise to the customer which is why it won't happen ...

 

[Gully]

Whether they are exploited for making clothes, carpets or sex its wrong. Maybe the US could of looked into the situation and stopped child exploitation by paying a fair price rather than looking for something cheap. A radical solution would be to make our own clothes.

I agree with the last comment, how difficult is it to find something that says on the label "Made in Britain", except for something like a bespoke suit...with rising transportation costs surely it will ge to the point where it is possible for British textile companies to start competing again.