[swet,sHap]

sweatshop
     [swet,SHap]

              If you've ever purchased cocoa, coffee, bricks, cotton or garments it is safe to say that you have been a consumer to a company that utilizes sweatshop work. Sweatshops are factories or workshops where employees are working very long hours under poor conditions at very low wages. Companies utilize sweatshops to increase their profit margin. Despite these poor working conditions and low wages many people will argue that sweatshops are good for the economy as well as the worker. The relationship between the worker and the company is also described as mutually beneficial by some.

           I started out my research by learning about the big picture. Bangladesh, India is the world's second largest textile exporter and has the most available information on the web. Bangladesh's sweatshops have been reported on heavily after their large number of collapses and fires in recent years.

          Bangladesh workers make 31 cents per hour which equates to approximately 763 dollars per year. This affords the worker enough money for very basic shelter, food and transportations. Their shelters are basics huts and tarps and dirt floors. A copy of wages throughout the world can be found here.  You will find sweatshops in nearly every country in the world but the numbers of sweatshops increase as the cost of living decreases. Businesses are looking for the absolute lowest wage rate to increase their profit margin.

 

 

                                                                      ecouterre.com

 

          The textile export for Bangladesh, India totaled 42.6 billion dollars in 2014. These statistics are so hard to wrap your head around after learning about the hourly wages of their employees. Of course this boosts Bangladesh's economy enormously and without the sweatshops the country would be in even greater distress. Paying the workers a fair wage would decrease the export but it is just a drop in the multi billion dollar bucket. A website showing the export data can be found here.

         The economy, safety, morality and the livelihoods of the poor. There are so many aspects to this controversial issue. I plan to dig deep and uncover the answers to all of my questions.