Is Forever 21 aware of child labor usage?
Interview manuscript with the, employees, and shoppers of a Forever 21 retail store in California
1) Does Forever 21 use child labor when gathering materials and producing clothing? 2) What is the Forever 21 policy behind using child labor to produce clothing? 3) What is the reasoning behind the usage of child labor to produce clothing for Forever 21? 4) How does the child labor affect the quality and capital generated on products at Forever 21? 5) Will Forever 21 ever stop using child labor when producing products? 6) Will you still make your purchase and continue shopping at Forever 21 with the knowledge that the items are made with child labor? |
Employee 1
1) Yes, they use it when they get the material and to make the garment. 2) Sorry I don’t know. 3) It is a lot cheaper to have kids make clothes than adults because when you mistreat kids in a factory they usually stay silent for the pay and that they don't know their rights. 4) It helps the capital because for the same shirt you can pay twice the price for it to made in fare and healthy conditions by adults. The cheap clothing that is in style is what drives the capital of this company. 5) No, because it is part of the reason this store has such cheap clothing and that is a major part of the appeal. Employee 2 1) Yes I think so, they use the child labor when making the clothing. 2) I don’t know, I don't know if we even have one. 3) Kids will work for less pay and the less the company pays them the more the company makes, as a corrupt strategy it is great but I personally don’t believe in it. 4) Since the company pays less for the clothing made they probably make more of a profit compared to the same clothing made by an adult. 5) I don’t think so, I only say this because the largest appeal of this store other than the hip clothing is it’s price which is very low. |
Shopper 1
1) Probably, I don’t like to think about it but yes, they do. How else can I get such cheap clothes? I feel bad that I buy from them but it is on the back of my mind when I shop here. 2) I don’t know. 3) Probably because kids will work for cheap and don’t yet know their rights when working. The less money it takes to make the clothes the more Forever 21 makes on the profit of it. 4) Forever 21 probably makes a lot of money off of their child labor. 5) I don’t think so cause the it would mean their prices would be higher and then they would lose customers. 6) Yes, I will but would rather not. If the same clothes were made and they only cost a few dollars more I would buy the alternative but they don’t have a “child labor free” line here. Shopper 2 1) I’m sure they do, most big companies do if they want a good profit. 2) I don’t know 3) If you figure that kids will work for less and the company has a fixed price on a shirt the kids should make it to get a bigger profit. 4) Well obviously the clothes cost less, but I think the quality is the same when compared to a non child labor shirt. 5) No, because as a corporation it would not make sense to lose money. 6) Yes, but I will feel bad about it. I like the clothes and I don’t think me not buying a shirt or sweater will really make an impact on the life of the child who made the shirt or sweater. |
As displayed above, many of these well known and familiar clothing products and objects we see all the time are actually the result of cheap child labor used by a variety of countries, particularly in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan, as well as many other corporations in order to cheapen the production cost of their goods and to maximize profits for their company.