MORE than 90 per cent of women working in the fashion industry at home in three South Asian countries earn below the minimum wage, according to a damning new report.

According to the joint study by Transform Trade, Homeworkers Worldwide and HomeNet International, such women in Pakistan, Nepal and India earn less than the local minimum wage and most have no access to sick pay, pensions or paid leave.

Many home workers interviewed for the report demanded the same rights and conditions as their peers employed in factories. 

“Factory workers have access to modern technological stitching machines … timely payments, social security and healthcare, while we receive low wages and have no such support,” said one Karachi homeworker quoted in the report, titled Working from Home: The Decent Work Deficit of Homeworkers in Selected Cities in South Asia. 

“About 50 million homeworkers in South Asia play a crucial role in global fashion supply chains,’ said Transform Trade’s India business head Rakesh Supkar. 

“We call on those brands which haven’t yet done so to introduce a home worker policy. When home working is done right, it can provide flexible, dignified employment and vital income to the millions of women who are unable to work in factories.” 

The report was funded by the European Union.