Recherchetool für Materialien

The Unequal Impacts of Covid-19 on Global Garment Supply Chains

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed and amplified inequities and instabilities within the global garment supply chains feeding United Kingdom (UK), United States (US), Canadian, and European Union (EU) consumer markets. In March 2020, as lockdowns were imposed and consumer demand for clothes plummeted, MNCs cancelled orders and refused to pay for apparel that had already been produced.1 Even as governments made vast public funds available to help them weather disruption and shocks, many MNCs continued to eschew contractual obligations and transfer losses and risks onto their supply chain partners overseas.

The key aims of the research are to:
1) understand and compare whether, to what extent, and how the Covid-19 pandemic is deepening worker vulnerability to forced labour (Ethiopia, Honduras, India, and Myanmar)
2) determine and compare how company and government responses to the pandemic are shaping patterns of inequity within the garment supply chain
3) Investigate how governance in global garment supply chains has changed during the pandemic and with what consequences for workers and companies
To explore these questions, the research revealed a new primary dataset between September 2020 and April 2021, consisting of:

  • Quantitative digital survey of workers in Ethiopia, Honduras, India, and Myanmar
  • Interviews with workers in Ethiopia, Honduras, and India
  • Expert interviews
  • Database of 2020/2021 annual financial statements and sustainability reports and government information about pandemic business financing and assistance and social protection

Scope: 59 pages
reference : free of charge to Download