Cheap Labour Essay

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Recommended: Causes of poverty in developing countries in relation to inequality

CHEAP LABOUR IS NOT A NECCESSITY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MODERN COUNTRY {Hook} Cheap labour is the term provided when an individual is exploited to work intensely for a long number of hours and in return is paid an unreasonable salary for working these hours under terrible working conditions. Cheap labour usually takes place in factories and construction sites and it has been implemented for a very long time in developing and under developed countries such as China, Mexico, Indonesia and Vietnam and it is practised on individuals who come into developing countries from third world countries. It is an undeniable fact that the industrialized democracies depend on different types of cheap labour for an extensive range of their economic activities (King and Rudea 2008, 1-2). Illiteracy and lack of education has always been the major tool in powering cheap labor as vast number of people in third world countries and developing nations find it difficult to earn a living in their own soil, hence, they are left with no other choice but attaining a job and working for multinational co operations with a lower salary for their own survival. However, even though the amount of money they obtain monthly is approximately 3 times greater to the wage they are given in their own land, the cost of living in developing countries is higher. However the amount of money they obtain monthly is approximately greater to the wage they are given back home, the cost of living in these countries are generally higher which means that the amount they can save to send for their families at home is far less than they have expected. This paper outlines and argues on the immediate, ethical as well as long term impacts on a country and the labourers caused by exploit... ... middle of paper ... ... labour standards in developing and underdeveloped countries and yet, the economy of these countries is better than that of countries that exploit workers into cheap labour (Fact Sheet #17I: Blue-Collar Workers and the Part 541 Exemptions Under the 2008). The minimum wage in the USA is $7.25 per hour and in Australia it is $16.88 per hour. Cheap labour is being used in China and the minimum wage of a worker there is $0.80 per hour and $0.28 per hour in India (Matthews 2013). This shows clear proof that in today’s world it is not cheap labour that helps with the growth of a country’s economy. In the earlier times, cheap labour helped a country in terms of economy after the industrial revolution, however, it is not the case now as different methods and techniques of executing a task has been discovered and skilled and knowledgeable workers are needed to perform them.

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