Living Wages for all Garment Workers: Where are We Now? 

Living Wages 

One way of determining the ethics behind clothing production is by assessing whether garment workers receive a living wage. Living wages are higher than the minimum wage, providing employees with enough income to cover their basic needs and put aside some additional income. Living wages are recognised by the United Nations as a human right. 

Unfortunately, the lack of transparency in the textile industry makes it difficult to know if the people behind your favourite items of clothing have been paid fairly. According to Fashion Revolution’s 2023 Fashion Transparency Index, 99% of major fashion brands do not tell us the number of workers in their supply chains being paid a living wage.

Research conducted by the Clean Clothes Campaign found that no major clothing brand was able to prove that the workers making their clothing are paid a living wage in Asia, Africa, Central America, or Eastern Europe. The Fashion Checker tool allows you to find out which fashion brands pay their workers a living wage. Regrettably, a huge 97.3% of surveyed brands aren’t paying their garment workers a living wage. 

Instead of a living wage, workers often earn only the legal minimum wage, or even less. Due to the huge gap between living wages and minimum wages, in reality garment workers are receiving a far lower income than what is needed for a decent standard of living. This is because minimum wages typically bear no relation to the cost of living. In Cambodia, for example, minimum wages are only 33% of living wages, and in Sri Lanka, they’re only 13%. 

The situation isn’t always better in Europe, despite popular belief. The European Union has recognised the inadequacy of minimum wage requirements in the majority of Member States. In Hungary, minimum wages are just 22% of living wages. In fact, the Clean Clothes Campaign highlighted that the gap between current and living wages is often bigger in European production countries than in Asian production countries. 

‘Made in Europe’ is evidently not always synonymous with fair production standards. Conversely, this also means that labels such as ​‘Made in China’ do not necessarily mean that garment workers are being treated less favourably than their European counterparts.

Why aren’t living wages being paid? 

The competitive nature of the fashion industry demands increasingly lower prices in what is described as a ​‘race to the bottom’ in wages and working conditions. As brands push for bigger profits and lower prices, production costs are minimised, and workers aren’t properly compensated. 

Additionally, millions of garment manufacturers are paid not for the number of hours they work, but the number of garments they make. In practice, this often means excessive hours worked without sufficient pay. Reports have exposed that when issues are raised, managers argue that they should just work faster. 

Glimpses of Hope 

Fortunately, there is hope that through effective collaboration, change can be realised for all garment workers, both within Europe and beyond. 

Forward Faster 

The United Nations recognises that in many countries companies must go beyond minimum wage payments as they do not allow for a decent standard of living. In 2023, the United Nations Global Compact launched the Forward Faster initiative. This is a global platform for corporate action to drive progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. One of 5 areas of action is living wages. 

Fair Wear 

The Fair Wear Foundation advocates for safe, dignified, and decently paid employment, in which human rights are respected, in the global garment supply chain. The organisation has released a Fair Price app, which allows users to understand how increasing wages will affect product costs. Through this, it aims to highlight that it is possible to both increase wages and compete in the industry. 

Global Living Wage 

The Global Living Wage Coalition demands decent standards of living worldwide. Using the Anker Methodology, they’ve estimated realistic living wages for 56 countries. This data allows researchers to compare global living wages, and determine gaps between living and current wages. 

Action, Collaboration, Transformation 

ACT (Action, Collaboration, Transformation) is an initiative between international brands and retailers, manufacturers, and trade unions to target wage improvements in the garment industry. It aims to establish industry collective bargaining in key garment and textile sourcing countries to deliver living wages. 

What can you do?

As a consumer

• Inform yourself about your favourite brands → Discover the COSH! Brand Index and read all about a brand’s sustainability!
• Dare to ask questions → Who made my clothes?!
• Don’t buy what you don’t need → Use the COSH! App to get more out of your wardrobe without having to buy something new.

As a local designer or brand

• Know your manufacturer, and build a personal relationship with them. Maybe you can even take a nice trip to visit?
• Don’t be afraid to demand fair pay and safe working conditions, even as a smaller label, you have the right to ask this of your manufacturer.
• Know where every part of your collection is made, a complex supply chain often hides ​‘smelly’ truths!

The payment of living wages for all garment workers must be addressed urgently. Realising minimum wages alone is not enough to secure decent standards of living. The reality is that in many production countries, garment workers receive wages which cannot provide them a way out of poverty. And contrary to popular belief, issues with wage payments exist within Europe too. Through effective collaboration between stakeholders; including various organisations, brands, and governments, there remains hope that living wages may be fulfilled. 

Sources:

https://​cleanclothes​.org/​c​a​m​p​a​i​g​n​s​/​e​u​r​o​p​e​-​f​l​o​o​r​-wage 

https://​labourbehindthelabel​.org/​l​i​v​i​n​g​-​wage/

https://​international​-partnerships​.ec​.europa​.eu/​n​e​w​s​-​a​n​d​-​e​v​e​n​t​s​/​s​t​o​r​i​e​s​/​f​a​s​h​i​o​n​c​h​e​c​k​e​r​-​c​a​l​l​i​n​g​-​l​i​v​i​n​g​-​w​a​g​e​-​g​a​r​m​e​n​t​-​w​o​r​k​e​r​s​-​a​n​d​-​m​o​r​e​-​t​r​a​n​s​p​a​r​e​n​t​-​s​u​p​p​l​y​-​c​h​a​in_en

https://​www​.ethicaltrade​.org/​a​c​t​-​i​n​i​t​i​a​t​i​v​e​-​l​i​v​i​n​g​-​wages

https://​www​.globallivingwage​.org/

https://​www​.fairwear​.org/​p​r​o​g​r​a​m​m​e​s​/​l​i​v​i​n​g​-​wage/

https://​www​.thesustainablefashionforum​.com/​p​a​g​e​s​/​q​u​i​c​k​-​q​u​e​s​t​i​o​n​-​w​h​y​-​a​r​e​-​b​r​a​n​d​s​-​h​e​l​d​-​r​e​s​p​o​n​s​i​b​l​e​-​f​o​r​-​p​a​y​i​n​g​-​g​a​r​m​e​n​t​-​w​o​r​k​e​r​s​-​a​-​l​i​v​i​n​g​-wage

https://​employment​-social​-affairs​.ec​.europa​.eu/​p​o​l​i​c​i​e​s​-​a​n​d​-​a​c​t​i​v​i​t​i​e​s​/​r​i​g​h​t​s​-​w​o​r​k​/​l​a​b​o​u​r​-​l​a​w​/​w​o​r​k​i​n​g​-​c​o​n​d​i​t​i​o​n​s​/​a​d​e​q​u​a​t​e​-​m​i​n​i​m​u​m​-​w​a​g​e​s​-​eu_en

https://​unglobalcompact​.org/​w​h​a​t​-​i​s​-​g​c​/​o​u​r​-​w​o​r​k​/​l​i​v​i​n​g​wages

https://​forwardfaster​.unglobalcompact​.org/

https://​www​.fashionrevolution​.org/​f​a​s​h​i​o​n​-​t​r​a​n​s​p​a​r​e​n​c​y​-​i​n​d​e​x​-​2023/