Children in Pakistan and India Oppressed by Nike and Gap
by Adam Burke
November 2008
No matter how we look at it, today’s world is run by money and greed and the amount of money one has is the most important thing to them. Big business, imported goods, and foreign affairs run today’s economy no matter where you look. This greedy and materialistic way of life has corrupted the lives and minds of some of the purest, most noble people and the saying “money is the root of all evil” is very visible everywhere you look. It’s no surprise, when you look at all these details, that child slave labor is among the biggest problems in the world today. Extreme working conditions, unsafe work centers, low wages, and long hours make up the cruel world of slave labor and most of the time, it’s children in the factories. Although it is the cheapest, easiest way for companies to have their goods made, shipped, imported and sold, nevertheless child slave labor is a huge problem in today’s world and every single person who has any common sense must work to stop it from getting even more out of control. If nothing is done about this problem, children will keep dying in vain when something could’ve been done to expose the companies using slave labor. Among the companies using slave labor are huge brand names that everyone knows about, and the ways that the clothing, toys, and products they sell are made are horrific to say the least.
Nike is a household name in countries across the world. From sneakers to water bottles, Nike is a huge producer of athletic equipment and apparel. However, even though Nike’s products are made for all to appreciate, the children making some of the apparel are all but satisfied with the products. In Pakistan, Nike has been accused of using child slave labor to produce soccer balls that they sell to nations across the world to bring children and teens joy. Although the U.S. Constitution says that any companies found using slave labor will be prosecuted, the government has done close to nothing to investigate the slave labor being used by Nike. In Pakistan, the income per-capita is about $1,900 per year- meaning that the average person survives on less than a scarce $5 a day. The culture in Pakistan is that one employee may have to feed up to ten people with one low income. In the United States, living on five dollars a day would be impossible to live on. The problem first surfaced in 1996, when the June issue of Life Magazine revealed a photo of a12 year old boy in Pakistan with pieces of a Nike soccer ball around him. An article in the magazine stated that he made a total of 60 cents a day, which would buy someone in the U.S. about two and one half gumballs. The fact that an atrocity like this could happen in our world today is almost unbelievable, and people of the more wealthy countries like ours have to do something to prevent the problem from getting worse.
Slave labor isn’t used by just Nike. Many companies around the world use slave labor to have products produced quickly and cheaply. The International Labor Organization has estimated that almost 218 million children between the ages of five and seventeen are employed in developing countries. Of these 218 million, almost 150 million are working in agricultural jobs. This is close to ten times as many children working in factories. The fact that these children are working at all is horrible because most people of the same age in the United States aren’t working at all, much less working for less than a dollar a day. In the United States, the minimum wage that the government has determined is essential to live on is almost eight times an hour what some of the children in these countries are getting per day! The fact that our country doesn’t do something about this is to me offensive, and as the fortunate we must help.
GAP has also been accused of using child slave labor in the making of their clothing line. In India, children as young as 10 have been found working in textile factories and mills making GAP clothing. According to a study, over 20 percent of India’s economy is dependant on children. This staggering number is equal to about 55 million children under the age of 14. In our country, children under 14 can’t even drive a car much less work in a factory for 16 hours a day. GAP is one of the most successful fashion brands in the United States and even around the world and the clothing that they make appears to be nice to the customers and consumers who buy it and wear it. However, the crime committed in making this clothing is horrendous. Even though people have died in the unsafe conditions of sweatshops around the world, governments will do barely anything to stop them.
Many United States residents don’t realize how fortunate they are to live in a country that doesn’t have to worry about extreme poverty and everyone is given the same chance to succeed if they want to. Our country is so corrupt, that we have to pay children in other countries miniscule amounts if at all (some less than a dollar a day) to do the work that we, as fortunate as we are, are too lazy to do. But to most, that doesn’t matter. As long as they have a roof over their head and food on their kitchen table (which probably costs more then the lifetime salary of someone in a third world country), they are fine with the severe conditions that others go through to make sure that we are comfortable. Producers like Nike and GAP have to be stopped when it comes to child slave labor, and ordinary people are the ones who will have to step up to the challenge of stopping them.
Sources Used:
http://www.hrw.org/children/labor.htm
http://www.geocities.com/cslnews/articles/kids_help_kids.htm?200818
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/oct/28/ethicalbusiness.retail
http://www.american.edu/ted/nike/htm
http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/ites/0505/ijee/harkin.htm