The appeal of a higher wage, steadier hours and for women, independence draws workers from rural areas to urban slums in search of factory work. Globalization and with it the outsourcing of manufacturing labor from rich countries to poor ones, has lifted millions out of extreme poverty defined as living on less than $1 a day. Shutting down sweatshops completely would only erase those gains. According to Christian Science Monitor (1996), we do not support exploitation of the very young or abysmal work conditions. But it 's not fair to demand that developing countries meet all US labor standards. The way to help impoverished people all over the world is by doing business with those people who would hire them or hire their relatives. Looking at the macroeconomic success of China, it’s hard to not be awed by the country’s incredible strides since cracking open its markets to capitalism with Chinese characteristics. Since 1979 about 600 million people or 10% of the entire population of the planet have escaped poverty in China. Whether Western consumers will start to feel guilty and switch off from electronics products made in China remains to be seen. But as thousands lined up for jobs late last month at a new Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou, the spigot of Chinese workers who want to make our iPhone appears in no danger of running dry. According to Goldberg (2001), Sweatshops are not an end in themselves, but the first step on the ladder of
The appeal of a higher wage, steadier hours and for women, independence draws workers from rural areas to urban slums in search of factory work. Globalization and with it the outsourcing of manufacturing labor from rich countries to poor ones, has lifted millions out of extreme poverty defined as living on less than $1 a day. Shutting down sweatshops completely would only erase those gains. According to Christian Science Monitor (1996), we do not support exploitation of the very young or abysmal work conditions. But it 's not fair to demand that developing countries meet all US labor standards. The way to help impoverished people all over the world is by doing business with those people who would hire them or hire their relatives. Looking at the macroeconomic success of China, it’s hard to not be awed by the country’s incredible strides since cracking open its markets to capitalism with Chinese characteristics. Since 1979 about 600 million people or 10% of the entire population of the planet have escaped poverty in China. Whether Western consumers will start to feel guilty and switch off from electronics products made in China remains to be seen. But as thousands lined up for jobs late last month at a new Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou, the spigot of Chinese workers who want to make our iPhone appears in no danger of running dry. According to Goldberg (2001), Sweatshops are not an end in themselves, but the first step on the ladder of