The smog-filled air clogs the lungs of thousands of children. Children who are working relentlessly to earn a little less than two dollars a day. Children who are making shoes that are worth a couple of hundred dollars, and only getting paid a few cents. Imagine being placed in this situation, where children have to operate heavy machinery, dangerous raw material, and solvents that cause air pollution. Although many disagree, we should not buy products that have been manufactured with the use of child labor. Child labor can pose a serious threat on a child’s well-being, whether it be physical or mental. Companies like Nike have become synonymous with slave wages, forced overtime, and arbitrary abuse. According to UNICEF, more than 3 million …show more content…
However, the children of these families are not getting paid enough to live optimally. Saga Sports, Nike’s chief supplier, exposes Nike to the threat of child labor and other labor violations. Nike and other American companies pay workers in China and Vietnam less than $2 a day, and workers in Indonesia less than $1 a day. Despite the lower prices of these countries, critics have stated that workers need at least $3 a day to achieve adequate living standards. As Medea Benjamin, the director of the human rights group Global Exchange states, “A sweatshop is a sweatshop unless you start paying a living wage. That would be $3 a day” (Nike Pledges to End Child Labor And Apply U.S. Rules Abroad). Nike does not keep watch over the working practices in its factories, unlike Adidas, who maintains its own internal monitoring cell in Sialkot. Using objective observers to monitor working conditions would serve the industries of these companies, by giving the consumers an assurance that these products are made under good conditions. Evidently, these companies are not doing enough to provide a safe working environment for the manufacturing of their