The issue I wanna talk about is: 

•  People supporting brands that use child labour/sweatshops in the Third World countries

• This issue is an economic and social issue 

This issue is important because of millions of children that range from the ages of 6 to 14 year olds are forced to work at least 16 hours a day, every day for less than 20 cents USD per day! According to DoSomething.Org, these sweatshops are known to “have poor working conditions, unfair wages, unreasonable hours and a lack of benefits for workers”.

It's been documented that all over the world, 85-90% of sweatshop workers are women and children, who live in extreme poverty. Lack of employment and the drive to survive is the reason these people are being exported - THEY HAVE NO CHOICE! 

Let's look at the multi-billion dollar corporation Nike, which manufactures some of the world's most stylish clothing, as well as unique footwear.  Nike has a long history of contracting manufacturers that hire women and children to work as slave labour. For example, Nike has manufactured their footwear in 14 countries, 96% of them being in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. In these countries and more, the labourers who are making these products are doing so under horrendous working conditions. 

We, the consumer, have the power to change these practices and stop this catastrophe by giving dignity and human rights back to workers in 3rd world countries by doing the following:

1. Educate yourself 
2. Contact retail stores, manufactures, and importers 
3. Buy fair trade and sweatshop-free products whenever possible
4. Contact businesses that do business in countries that have child labour
5. If you’re a shareholder, use your voice to ensure that your companies support humane, sustainable, just practices that don’t include child labour