Consumer Worksheet

Recently I did some light research on the labor conditions and pay for laborers in China.  I was asked to look at the items I had on me and in my possession including my clothing and such.  In the process, I learned that the majority of those items are made in China.  This was really no surprise to me, however, I was then asked to look a little bit closer at the working conditions, rate of pay, and living standards compared to my own, and this is what I found:

Most of the laborers in China are poor, old, young or migrants.  It is clear that they are or were disadvantaged and that these jobs provide them with a better living.  However, the working conditions for the most part are hazardous, provide little or no safety equipment, extremely long hours, few breaks, and are very demanding physically.  I highly doubt that I would be able to or desire to work in those same conditions.

The average laborer in China working in a factory is currently making about 7 yuan per hour/Chinese which is equivalent to $1.00 dollar/American.  They are working approximately 60 hours per week which affords them an income of approximately 28,000yuan or $4,282.60 dollars.  The standard of living adjustment would indicate that it would provide an american person with an annual income of about $12,847.80, hardly enough to live on let alone try to raise a family.

The brands that I chose to focus on for the purpose of this project were:

Nike, world headquarters located in Beaverton, Oregon and the Regional Headquarters located in the Netherlands.

Levi, located in Brussels Germany and San Francisco, California.