Garment Worker Diaries the Lives and Wages
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1 3 GARMENT WORKER DIARIES 4 BANGALORE, INDIA THE LIVES AND WAGES OF [1] It’s 1:15pm in Bangalore, one garment worker sits with her cousins, styling each other’s hair. GARMENT WORKERS [2] One garment worker’s home in Ramangara, Bangalore. [3] A garment worker does all the household chores on her one day off each week. Several women have given permission [4] A garment worker's kids are An intimate look into cleaning fish for a meal in Bidadi, to share photos of their home life as part Bangalore. [5] In the evening, a the daily lives of women of this yearlong research study. We hope garment worker and her sister write from the Garment this helps the world to better understand down their expenses in her Financial Diary, as part of the project. Worker Diaries project in what it’s like to be a garment worker and inspires you to become an advocate for BANGALORE, INDIA Cambodia and India. the people who make your clothes. 5 2 26 10 11 7 8 PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA 12 13 [7] This woman, one of the workers in the Diaries project, lives in Kampong Speu Province, just outside Phnom Penh. [8] On her one day off each week, she cooks a big lunch, such as fish soup with rice and fruit relish. [9] She also does all the household chores. [10] On Sunday another garment worker chills at home and watches TV with her kids, just like everybody else! [11] Another worker stands in her kitchen area where she’s making a big feast. [12 & 13] This woman prepares a large pot of meat and vegetables at her home. 9 CASE STUDY 202.1 FINANCIAL DIARY BANGLADESH WEEK 1 GARMENT WORKER DIARIES NAME: AGE: Rohima 39 Rohima received her salary of 8,100 LIVES: in a house in the Mirpur sub-district taka and immediately deposited a of Dhaka. It has no separate small amount into her savings account THE LIVES AND WAGES OF bathroom, kitchen or storage areas. and paid her insurance premium. FAMILY: She lives with her 10 year old son She also paid rent which was almost 1/3 of her total salary. She used some SALARY: BDT 8,100 (monthly) GARMENT WORKERS of her leftover money to buy food and medicine for her son who was sick with TYPICAL DAILY ROUTINE SHOPPING LIST a stress-related illness. FROM WEEK 2 07:00 Wake up, get dressed Have you ever looked down loans, and savings to manage their meagre WEEK 2 wages. They are also learning about the 07:45 Walk to work Rohima used some of her leftover at your shirt and wondered conditions in which these women work such 08:00 Work for 10 hours with a salary to purchase food and other 1hr break who made it? the length of their shifts, the brands they work household items. Her son was still for, and the injuries they suffer. 18:00 Travel home sick this week and she took him to Today most clothing is cut and sewn by 18.15 Cook dinner of rice and the hospital for treatment. She ended veggies with a small portion up paying for a bus to transport them, women who live in the developing world, Data from the project will provide us with a of local fish cooked in a yet most consumers have virtually no better understanding of how these spice-sauce medicine and a pathology test. She also concept of what life is like for the people garment workers survive on low pay 19:30 Cleaning, laundry and gave him a little bit of spending money. who make our clothes. and deal with problems such as chronic looking after her son pain, harassment or illness. In the next 21:00 Personal care WEEK 3 The GARMENT WORKER DIARIES is a pages, you will meet three of the women 21:30 Relax and watch tv Her son's illness had developed into typhoid, requiring her to make a large yearlong research project led by Microfinance participating in the study. We have changed 00:00 Muslim religious practice Opportunities that is gathering firsthand their names for confidentiality. withdrawal from her home savings. 01:00 Sleep accounts of life as a garment worker from Rohima took her son to the hospital for treatment and was not able to work in 540 women in Bangladesh, Cambodia and As you read about what the garment workers the factory in order to care for her son. India. Researchers are collecting data on earn and spend, keep in mind the following what these women earn and spend each information about the minimum and living GAVE MONEY WEEK 4 week as well as how they use cash transfers, wages in each country. TO SON 55 Rohima went back to work this week TRANSPORT and received a 4,037 taka bonus. MONTHLY MINIMUM WAGE $266 120 She used this to purchase food and BANK DEPOSIT & household items, and she gave a small INSURANCE amount to her son. She deposited the VS LIVING WAGE KEY BONUS PREMIUM 4,037 700 rest into her home savings. 1,166,900 1,166,900 riel Cambodian Minimum FOOD AND wage HOUSEHOLD 250 ITEMS FACTORY CONDITIONS 1,950 16,460 16,460 taka Bangladeshi Living 200 wage RENT Fire Safety drill during Weeks 1 and 4. HOME 2,500 SAVINGS 6120 617,585 riel Cambodian 7,800 150 All living wage rates 8,929 rupees Indian calculated using the HOME SAVINGS DEPOSIT Anker Methodology via 7,085 rupees Indian 3,480 ISEAL Alliance and Wage 100 Indicator Foundation. 5,863 5,863 Bangladeshi taka Bangladeshi See p68 for more details.13 DOLLARS* US EQUIVALENT This information is based MEDICAL 50 on accurate rates at EXPENDITURES * Red areas on the graphs show where she had to EQUIVALENT US DOLLARS US EQUIVALENT the time of printing and SALARY FOR SON dip into her savings or find extra money just to may not reflect accurate 8,100 11,132 cover her basic essentials 0 current rates. UTTAH PRADESH DHAKA CITY PHNOM PENH ** 1 US Dollar is equal to roughly 78 taka. The prices MONEY COMING IN COMING MONEY INDIA BANGLADESH CAMBODIA OUT GOING MONEY of goods in Bangladesh are lower than in the US, and 1 US Dollar allows you to buy $2.75 worth of IN BANGLADESHI TAKA (BDT) goods in Bangladesh. 30 CASE STUDY 314.1 FINANCIAL DIARY CASE STUDY 406.2 FINANCIAL DIARY CAMBODIA INDIA WEEK 1 WEEK 1 NAME: Soeun AGE: 30 Soeun received her 908,000 riel salary NAME: Anusha AGE: 43 Anusha received her 7,000 rupee LIVES: in a rented room with a shared and made a withdrawal from her LIVES: a village near Bangalore, a home salary and used it to pay rent and her bathroom in the Por Sen Chey home savings. She used the money to her family rents, which is made of cable bill. She also purchased food, district of Phnom Penh purchase food and fuel and to pay her stone with a concrete roof clothing, and some religious items FAMILY: She lives with her husband, a car rent and utility bills. She also had to FAMILY: She lives with her husband, for her Hindu religious practices. driver, and their young son who pay a large hospital bill this week. She a labourer and their three school- She also made a deposit into her self- is currently in primary school gave money to her sister-in-law and going children help savings group. She celebrated the her husband too, but she kept some to Gouri and Ganesh Pooja festival this SALARY: 908,000 KHR (monthly) SALARY: 7,000 INR (monthly) herself for upcoming expenses. week. Unfortunately, she suffered from back pain as well. TYPICAL DAILY ROUTINE SHOPPING LIST WEEK 2 TYPICAL DAILY ROUTINE SHOPPING LIST FROM WEEK 2 FROM WEEK 2 WEEK 2 06:30 Wake up Soeun relied on the money she had 06:30 Wake up leftover from the previous week. Anusha made a small withdrawal from 06:45 Buddhist meditation 06.45 Hindu meditation She purchased some food throughout her home savings this week and used 07:15 Walk to work the week and she also went to the 07:00 Take a factory-provided bus the money to purchase food and to 07:30 Work for 9 hours with a hospital twice, requiring her to pay 08.00 Work for 8 hours with a make a deposit into her self-help group. 1hr break for lunch more hospital bills as well as for 30 minute break She continued to experience back pain 12:00 Buy a small bag of lunch, sold transportation there and back. 16:00 Travel home this week. outside the factory containing rice and soup with fish and As in Week 1, she gave money to her 17.00 Cook dinner of rice and some mango relish husband and sister-in-law. veggies, with a small portion WEEK 3 of chicken cooked in a 16:30 Travel home spice-sauce Anusha received money from her WEEK 3 husband this week and made another 16:45 Cook a dinner of fish, rice, 18.00 Cleaning, laundry and vegetables and spices Since her medical expenses cost looking after her children withdrawal from her home savings. 17.30 Cleaning, laundry and her so much, Soeun needed to take 20:45 Hindu prayer She used the money to purchase food, looking after her son out a 80,000 riel loan this week. religious items and some personal 21:00 Relax and watch tv 20:30 Relax and watch tv She also withdrew money from her hygiene products.