Sweatshops Research Paper

Sweatshops are a result of the struggle over resources. In this case, it is more often money than any other resource. Corporations who turn to sweatshops do this in order to increase profit. The less they pay their workers, the more money goes into their own pockets. Whether a company treats their employees with dignity and respect or with greed and insolence shows the true values of a company.

A majority of the clothing worn and purchased today in the United States has been manufactured overseas in sweatshops. Since the beginning of factories and businesses, owners have always looked for a way to cut production costs while still managing to produce large quantities of their product. It was found that the best way to cut costs was to utilize cheap labor in factories known as sweatshops. According to the US General Account Office, sweatshops are defined as a “business that regularly violates both wage or child labor and safety or health laws”. These sweatshops exploit their workers in various ways: making them work long hours in dangerous working conditions for little to no pay. Personally, I believe that the come up and employment of these sweatshops is unethical, but through my research I plan to find out if these shops produce more positive than negatives by giving these people in need a job despite the rough conditions.

They often use child labor, lack workers’ benefits, and use intimidation as means of controlling workers (Boal, Mark). Typically, sweatshops are found in developing countries, however, they are also a prevalent problem in many first world countries including the United States. Many manufacturers claim that sweatshops exist in order to keep prices down for consumers, while allowing profit. On the contrary, there is also substantial evidence that goes against these beliefs. For instance, a study showed that while doubling the wage of sweatshop workers would increase consumer price by 1.8%, consumers are willing to pay 15% more with the assurance that the product was made with fair labor (11 Facts About). This, however, is a hard argument seeing as the circumstance was hypothetical and if prices were actually raised, there is no way to assure that consumers would react the same way. Either way, both sides of the argument can agree that the conditions are not good, it is just a matter of analysing the cost vs. the benefit to determine their necessity. This leads to several questions: Are sweatshops a necessary evil, how could they be abolished, and what realistic goals regarding the bettering of worker conditions can be met? Through the answering of these questions, it is easy to see that despite claims of sweatshops bringing opportunities to

There are few advantages of having sweatshops. First, it gives many people the opportunity to work. Thus it will reduce the unemployment rate in a particular country.

“My concern isn’t that there are too many sweatshops, but that there are too few” (Stossel, 586). This theory holds that developing countries improve their condition by charging less but do the same work. Also developed countries will be better off, because their workers can shift to jobs that they can do better at (561). These are the jobs that some economists say usually show a certain level of education and training that can be difficult to obtain in the developing world (579). Consequently, developing countries get factories that provide multiple jobs that they would not otherwise; therefore improving the technology and capital. With this situation occurring, developing countries try to keep low constant wages, because sweatshops tend to just get moved on to another location that is more willing, for fear of losing investments and boosting gross domestic product (GDP). This only means average wages will increase at a steady rate around the world; a nation gets left behind if it demands wages are higher than the current market price asked for (Ross, 566).

Sweatshops are a workplace where workers are subject to extreme exploitation, including the absence of a living wage, poor benefits, health and safety hazards, and random discipline (AMM 245, Kim). According to the department of labor, a sweatshop is a factory that violates two or more labor laws (http://www.dol.gov/). There is much controversy over the definition but sweatshops are manufacturers that don’t pay living wages, have low safety standards, don’t pay overtime, make employees work an abnormal amount of hours, have physical and mental abuse, among other issues. Sweatshops started in America during the industrialization period of the nineteenth period. People from Europe came to the United States in the attempt to create a better life for themselves and when they arrived most of them

I. Claim 1: Sweatshops increase the standards of living for the workers and their communities

I. Claim 1: Sweatshops increase the standards of living for the workers and their communities

Low pay, long hours, unsafe conditions, and more are only some of the struggles that people have to go through just to afford to put food on their table. Sweatshops are factories that have poor working conditions where employees are paid very little money to work very long hours. During the Industrial Revolution, Sweatshops in America were a big deal. You can find sweatshops all over the world, but many sweatshops were located in the United States during the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution occurred during the late 18th century to the mid 19th century.

Many of developing countries gain economic growth due to sweatshops. In the article Beyond Sweatshops: Employment, Labor Market Security and Global Inequality by James Heitz he states that “access to the markets of affluent countries has become a key component of growth strategies around the globe” ( Heitz p 224 ). A key component to developing an economy is trade. Additionally, businesses with increasing services brings forth growth to the economy. Sweatshops allow manufacturing companies to trade goods, as well as bring forth new businesses. Through developed countries such as the United States developing countries gain technical knowledge, fundament and tools.

In this article from the Different Mirror , In the sweatshops people were subjected to harsh treatments, when they had to go to the bathroom they were followed to make sure they made it quick. people received their wages based on their group which meant even if you worked very hard if the next person was slow there is northing you could do about it which I think was unfair , none should received their wages base on everyone else because not everyone is are working or needs money the same. The sweatshops gave everyone a chance a at job which is a great thing as not all immigrants know how to make a dress or handle a needle and therefore hearing the unskilled helped and disadvantaged those who knew the work.Working condition at the sweatshops

Almost everyone knows sweatshops are not acceptable places to work or support. Sweatshops, per definition from the International Labor Organization are organizations that violate more than two labor laws (Venkidaslam). There are several arguments against sweatshops. First, is that these organizations exploit their workers. They provide them low wages and some pay below the minimum wage of the home nation. Moreover, these workers are forced to work more than 60 hours per week and are mandated to work overtime. In addition, workers are subjected to unsafe environments and sexual abuse. Finally, sweatshops are known for their child labor, where children below the legal working age are paid extremely small wages. Anyone who is against sweatshops will say, choosing to partner with these organizations are unethical.

Rubi Garyfalakis in her article “No sweat?” supports her point of view that sweatshop can be considered as a good solution for women in the third world to live by their own, and that sweatshop sets them free from early arranged marriage (Garyfalakis, 2016). However, those are only the visual surface of an iceberg. What about 91% of the iceberg below the surface of the water of the terminology: sweatshop? A sweatshop is defined as “a shop or factory in which employees work for long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). Therefore, it is not strongly recommended to fight for things that consequences are overweighed benefits it would bring back to a part of the society including child labor, violation of law, and increasing rate of unemployment.

Sweatshops have always been a problem in the Unites States, especially during the past century. Unfair working conditions and pay prompted the formation of the Garment Worker

Abstract: Many countries, industries and people are becoming more affected by sweatshops in different ways because of they’re continuous increase in growth. Sweatshops benefit many developing countries as they provide opportunities of employment to the people living in poverty and benefit the community at large by creating an economic infrastructure that utilizes the country’s resources and increases their tax base. These institutions first came into existence in the early 1800’s and were referred to as dwelling houses, which were local factories that generally had the same idea of the sweatshop that we have in today’s society. There