The True Cost of Cheap Clothing

Last weekend my daughter bought 2 new t-shirts, each costing about £5. The first came from a shop in Leeds Uni Students' Union and was made in the UK; the second came from Primark, a company which sources clothing in Bangladesh and claims on its web-site that it can sell so cheaply because it doesn't run advertising campaigns, passes on economies of scale and sells simple and therefore cheap to produce clothing.

However they also have stores in prime locations such as Oxford Street, London and The Headrow in Leeds.

A report by War on Want in 2006 discovered that the female workers employed in Bangladeshi sweat shops 'earn' 5p per hour working 90 hour weeks producing clothes for Primark, Asda (who sell a full school uniform for £10!) and others.

Please think carefully the next time you are tempted by the 'too cheap to be true' clothing offers on the High Street and in supermarkets. The price is higher than you think.