80% of Garment Workers Are Women and Most Are Paid a 45% Gap from a Living Wage
Fashion brands will celebrate International Women’s Day but won’t listen to their women-dominated workforce.
Today you will probably see dozens of posts from fashion brands celebrating International Women’s Day. Many will have pictures of a few of the women on staff, some may even show off cute outfits that say things like “girl power” or “feminist.” Others will promote great causes that support women – like this one from fast fashion brand Pretty Little Thing. The problem is, none of them will tell you one very important fact: In fashion, there are millions of women who are paid well below a living wage – and yes, they are making clothing for many of the brands making those cute posts. According to a new study using data collected from the WageIndicator Foundation, Global Living Wage Coalition, and the Clean Clothes Campaign, on average, garment workers are paid a 45% gap from a living wage. When you consider that around 80% of these workers are female, that’s a lot of women being underpaid.
What makes this statistic even more egregious on a day like today is that International Women’s Day exists in part because of garment workers who fought for living wages and safe working conditions. In 1911, after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City burned down, killing 146 women, workers protested and as a result created some of the most impactful labor laws in United States history. They formed the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union and were able to secure minimum wage and factory inspection requirements.
Over a century later, those same principles built by fashion workers are not applied to the ones working today. In the supply chain of several of these brands — including Pretty Little Thing, which is owned by BooHoo — women have reported wage theft, harassment, and unsafe conditions in their work place every single day. Right now, there are protests around the world in Haiti, Myanmar, and Thailand, all led by garment workers who say they are not being treated fairly by brands. In Haiti, a pregnant woman protesting for better pay from factories making clothing for Walmart and Target was injured.
So today, when there are brands using the holiday to sell more clothing, or insert themselves into the conversation about women’s rights when workers don’t see any of those profits or protections, tell them no. That’s not feminism — that’s capitalism. Let’s celebrate the women in the fashion industry by respecting their rights, their work, and pushing brands to pay them.
4 ways to help garment workers right now:
Sign this petition urging brands to pay workers owed wages.
Donate money directly to workers in Los Angeles through the Garment Workers Center.
Send an email to brands telling them to protect garment workers in their supply chain.
Contact your congress member and tell them to support Uyghur Human Rights Protection Act (H.R.1630/S.1080) and the Uyghur Policy Act (H.R.4785)
*This Stuff is a newsletter by me! fashion journalist, Alyssa Hardy. Three times a week, I unpack the ways our clothes impact the world through news, essays, interviews and more. Subscribe for free here and follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.*