Your task is to write a newspaper article in which you answer the question “Who are the fashion victims?”

Think about the following facts:

The minimum wage in the USA is $7.75 an hour

The minimum wage in Viet Nam is $0.50 an hour

Between 1 and 3% of the price you pay for a pair of running shoes goes to the worker who made them.

Companies like Umbro, Reebok, and Nike used to make their clothes in the USA and UK until they were able to start using factories in Asia and Latin America where wages are lower.

The average British person spends $800 a year on clothes.

People demand cheaper clothes, meaning that companies put pressure on factory owners to pay less to their workers.

A branded “Nike” sports jacket costs double the amount of a similar un-branded jacket.

In your article you should consider:

·  How some people are exploited in the fashion industry

·  How the actions of consumers in rich countries can affect clothes factory workers in poor countries (LEDCs)

·  How workers in clothes factories in rich countries lost their jobs

Help:

Don’t just rely on your notes, also look to deepen your understanding by reading more about this on the internet.

This is how your work will be marked:

16-20 / You write in detail about exploited workers in poor countries and workers in rich countries who lost their jobs and at least one other fashion victim.
Facts are used in the newspaper article and there is evidence of independent research.
You lay out your work in the style of a newspaper article and there is some attempt to write in the style of a newspaper article
13-15 / You write adequately about exploited workers in poor countries and workers in rich countries who lost their jobs and perhaps another fashion victim.
You make efforts to lay out your work in the style of a newspaper article and there is some attempt to write in the style of a newspaper article. Some effort may have been made to include the facts given in the instructions.
10-12 / You write about exploited workers in poor countries and workers in rich countries who lost their jobs.
You include one or two features of a newspaper article, i.e. a headline.
5-9 / Your work is largely irrelevant or copied or very brief.

Geraint Langford