Chameli isn’t paid a living wage

Chameli (pictured) is paid about 51 cents an hour for her work in a factory suppling clothes to big brands including Big W. Chameli left school, aged 11, to work. For the past six years, she has worked in the garment sector.

The thing she wants most for her three daughters – aged 5, 12 and 14 – is education. But her family’s story is one of a cycle of poverty trapping one generation to the next. Unable to make ends meet on her poverty wages, Chameli

recently allowed her 14-year-old daughter to leave school to start work in a clothing factory, while her younger two daughters no longer attend school.

Chameli describes feeling sad about her daughter’s path into the garment sector at such a young age – but says the family couldn’t otherwise afford enough food or clothing. Chameli’s only son tragically died while she was at work,

because there was no one to look after him. Big clothing brands must pay women like Chameli a living wage.