What are wages currently like for factory workers in the fashion industry?

It is estimated that less than 2% of the people who make the clothes on our bodies earn a living wage (Source: The True Cost). This means an estimated 98% of workers in the fashion industry are likely being held in systemic poverty and cannot meet their most basic needs. And, 75% of these workers are women between the ages of 18 and 24 (Source: Fashion Revolution, 2017).

This is not a small problem. In fact, the fashion industry employs 75 Million factory workers around the world (that’s a higher number than the population of over 220 different countries) (Source: Fashion United, 2017). Factoring in that many workers have children, the number of people this problem affects quickly becomes as large as the population of the United States, the 3rd largest country in the world.

Our industry’s negligence to provide a living wage is especially concerning when considering that the United Nations has declared it a basic human right.

“Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity...”

(Source: Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 23.)