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Primark

Im doing an essay about Primark and their child labour, if you heard about this did it stop you from shopping at Primark and why?
Thank youu :smile:
Reply 1
Not really as most shops have child labour and under paid labour so I think its quite hard to avoid unless your willing to pay loads for your clothes. Seen as theres a lot of unemployed people and the economy is a bit rubbish at the moment a lot of people cannot afford to buy really expensive clothes.
Reply 2
It doesn't suprise me. Big shops like Gap are always getting in trouble because of child labour but the shops always get round any criminal charges etc by saying they simply leased their contract to someone else onsite ( say in india) and it was the middle man who set up the child labour and they didnt know.

I think its hard to avoid buying clothing thats made in this way cause you can never be sure which brands are part of it.
In fairness, only a few brands actively shout about how they really genuinely don't use it (American Apparel comes to mind, and they are soooo expensive). You may be sure everyone else does, they just make more of a profit on individual items than Primark does.

You need to question about whether or not is is a neccessary evil. I don't mean because we can't afford clothes that aren't made by children and underpaid labourers. I mean, is it better that they do this than have no job or are on the streets? That's the real question, not pinning all the blame on primark when they are absolutely not alone in this.
Exactly, watched a documentary once, and it showed that jeans from Primark, Topshop, other high street stores were all made in child-labour factories literally next door to one another. Some shops make a bigger profit margin, and also Primark does not advertise; no adverts/posters ect. which must greatly reduce overheads, allowing clothes to be cheaper.
Reply 5
No. Most of these kids would starve to death if they didn't work in those factories. Sure the wages arn't what they are here but it's relative for the country.
Reply 6
No, at least they are earning money. If they didnt work, it's pretty likely they'd not be able to eat.
Also it's not just Primark who use child labour. Most high street shops do, it's just Primark that always gets mentioned because the clothes are so cheap. Places like Topshop are just making a bigger profit.
Reply 7
Tbh no. Unless we are willing to pay decent prices for clothes, our obsession with cheap clothing is not going to go away. I think it's wrong to single out Primark as most other stores do this as well in order to keep costs down and profits high.
Original post by tinman1
No. Most of these kids would starve to death if they didn't work in those factories. Sure the wages arn't what they are here but it's relative for the country.


Ahh, so thats why my sisters primark clothes had blood stains on them. That explains everything.
No, it didn't stop me. Primark isn't the only one who does it.
Primarni>>>>>
Reply 11
No I didn't. I don't go there often as there isn't one in Peterborough and the nearest is probably Cambridge, about 1 hour away. I only go there for basic tshirts, pjs and leggings. Wasn't there a documentary call blood, sweat and tshirts?
Reply 12
Unfortunately, it's not particularly easy to find out which brands use child labour or not, so it's just best to assume that the majority of them do.
It's all very well and good for these middle age middle class presenters to tell us we shouldn't buy from Primark, but it's pretty much all most people can afford at the moment. Unfortunate but true. It's expensive enough buying cruelty free makeup :frown:
Reply 13
It didn't stop me. Primark isn't the only one.

I'd bet a grand scale of companies are "corrupt" on one count or another. Unless you can afford to buy otherwise.
id rather pay not so much for my clothes than pay loads and the people making it still be payed the same... if that made any sense :s-smilie:
ever wonder how come certain shops in sales a top comes from £45 to £10... i doubt there making a loss when they sell it at the lower price...

i dont agree with it... but primarni is as far as my budget goes right now sorry poor children being used :frown:

x
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 15
Didn't really stop me, but I did judge them for it :/
Reply 16
I can't shop at primark because it's a plain annoying place. there's always loads of people walking and pushing around as if there's only one dress in entire store and everyone needs it. i can't stand all the clothes being stuffed together and laying on the floor. not for me. and the fact about cheap labour and children makes it even worse.
Reply 17
Honestly, if child labour stopped you shopping on the high street- there wouldn't really be anywhere you could buy your clothes. Yes, not everything is made through child labour but labour just the same- in cramped, dirty squalor.

All the big brands like Topshop etc use slave labour- how do you think they make their money???

It is sad, but really- what can you do about it???

Personally, i don't like Primark because its chavvy- 90% of the people you will see in there are. I go in there to buy girl boxers and i'll pick up some cute jammas if i see any- but other than that : :
Reply 18
Pretty much every company uses child/unfair labour. At least Primark aren't as exploitative as shops such as Next and Topshop, who make a much more massive profit out of it. Yes it's wrong, but unless you're going to only shop from Fairtrade shops, you're going to be most ethical shopping at Primark instead of more expensive stores - every company will pay the poor person who makes the jumper something ridiculous like 5 pence. I'd rather only give a tenner to a company doing so, rather than reward them with £80.
I hate to say it, but no it wouldn't. What attracts me to Primark is the cheap prices, though the clothes admittedly are cheap and tacky. I like the PJs though :wink: . Yet, if I was to shop at somewhere more upmarket or expensive, bet they'd end up using child labour.

It's a classic case of "if I stop, i'm not really going to make much of a difference because other people won't stop". We wouldn't be able to stop something that happens on such a massive, global basis. It's wrong that we have no alternative on the high street, and right now, a lot of people can't afford to shop anywhere other than Primark. It's sad, but I agree with the above, I'd rather give a company a little for using child labour, than paying £100+ to a more expensive shop for doing the same thing.

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