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11 Facts About Labor Rights

Welcome to DoSomething.org, a global movement of millions of young people making positive change, online and off! The 11 facts you want are below, and the sources for the facts are at the very bottom of the page. After you learn something, Do Something! Find out how to take action here.

  1. In 2008, there were 217 million children between the ages 5 to 17 involved in child labor around the world.^[UN. "resources for speakers, global issues, africa, ageing, agriculture, aids, atomic energy, children, climate change, culture, decolonization, demining, development, disabilities, disarmament, environment, food, governance, humanitarian, refugees, women." UN News Center. http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/briefingpapers/childlabour/vitalstats.shtml (accessed July 28, 2014).]
  2. The nominal wages for women are roughly 20% lower than men’s.^["Nominal wages for women is roughly 20% lower than men's." UNICEF. http://www.unicef.org/factoftheweek/index_39100.html (accessed July 28, 2014).]
  3. Brands like Abercrombie & Fitch, Hanes, and many others use sweatshops to produce clothing. Protest unfair labor by demanding your school’s apparel be made in fair conditions. Sign up for Tighty Whitey Rally.^[International Labor Rights Forum." 2010 Sweatshop Hall of Shame. http://www.laborrights.org/publications/2010-sweatshop-hall-shame (accessed July 28, 2014).]
  4. In 2013 in the US, female full-time workers made only 78 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 22%.^["Pay Equity & Discrimination." — IWPR. http://www.iwpr.org/initiatives/pay-equity-and-discrimination (accessed March 11, 2015).]
  5. From 2000 to 2013 child labor among girls fell by 40%, compared to 25% for boys.^["ILO: Child Labor Declines, Worst Forms Will Remain by 2016." International Labor Organization. Accessed March 11, 2015. .]
  6. 79% of rural women work in agriculture; they, however lack control over productive assets such as land, livestock technologies, credit, finance, and markets.^["Rural Women:Agriculture, Forests and Employment ." UN Women. http://www.unwomensouthasia.org/assets/Rural-Women-Agriculture-Forests-and-Employment.pdf (accessed July 28, 2014).]
  7. There are 85 million children worldwide working in hazardous conditions and undergoing physical and sexual abuse and humiliation by their employers.^["ILO: Child Labor Declines, Worst Forms Will Remain by 2016." International Labor Organization. Accessed March 11, 2015. .]
  8. Every year, roughly 1.2 million children are trafficked to work in agriculture, mining, factories, armed conflict, and commercial sex work.^["Facts on children: Child Protection." UNICEF. http://www.unicef.org/dump/9482.html (accessed July 28, 2014).]
  9. In order to put an end to child labor, it would cost roughly $760 billion over a 20-year period of time.^[OPEC Fund Newsletter. Vol XI. No. 5, June-August 2004. Accessed March 11, 2015. .]
  10. Women make up 50% or more of migrant workers in both Asia and Latin America.^[“UN Women - Asia and the Pacific." $name | UN Women - Asia and the Pacific. http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/focus-areas/women-poverty-economics/migrant-workers (accessed July 28, 2014).]
  11. In 2006, 73 million working children were younger than 10 years old.^["The State of the World's Children 2006." The State of the World's Children 2006. http://www.unicef.org/sowc06/profiles/labour.php (accessed July 28, 2014).]
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