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The Global Working Poor: Problem-Based Learning ExerciseThis packet contains a set of problem-based learning exercises that are designed to enhance students’ understanding of the dynamics that contribute to poverty outside the United States and the struggles of the global working poor. Analysis of the wider global context of working class poverty is intended to complement the use of the CCBC Community Book, The Working Poor: Invisible in America by David Shipler. By solving these problem-based learning exercise students will be able to:recognize the main causes of poverty in countries outside the United States;explain why poverty persists even with employment;relate the experiences of the working poor in other countries to workers in the USA;analyze potential solutions that could improve the lives of workers; and recommend appropriate responses for the individuals featured in each case.The packet contains three case studies. Each case is based on the life of a particular individual who is working, but still living in poverty. The details of each case, including the geographical location, the names of the employers and the wage information, are accurate and based on the sources listed in the footnotes. However, the names of the individuals are pseudonyms and their living circumstances are a composite of the experiences broadly typical of the people who live in these communities.Each individual case study is followed by a set of six questions that can be used individually or in any combination to meet the objectives of a class. Answering the questions requires research and analysis, but some require substantially more research than others. Each case study is accompanied by links to resources students can use to get started. Additional materials providing more in-depth information and context are also available from the “International Development” library guide ().Guide to CasesCaseLocationThemesYinfeng ZhangChinaFactory labor, outsourcing, unionization, consumer movementsSi Thu KoMyanmar and ThailandChild labor, international migration, human trafficking, microfinanceQanjorin Canto CamajáGuatemalaAgriculture, fair trade, international migration, failed statesYinfeng Zhang, Foxconn Employee3324225889000Yinfeng Zhang is a 19 year old woman from Chuzhou, a city in eastern China. As a child, Yinfeng watched her parents struggle to make a living from the family farm. Most of the crops the family grew were worth very little in the marketplace and although there was always enough for the family to eat, there was never much cash or savings. As the only child, Yinfeng felt pressure from her parents to help support the family. After graduating from a high school level vocational program in tourism management, Yinfeng looked unsuccessfully for a job in her home city. Eventually she was forced to move to Shanghai where jobs were more plentiful. For several months she worked for a tourism company, but discovered that the cost of living devoured her entire salary. With her parents depending on her to send money home, Yinfeng knew she had to find a higher paying job.Following a tip from a friend, Yinfeng made contact with a recruitment firm that specializes in helping people find jobs in Chinese factories. In exchange for a fee equivalent to one month of her salary, the recruiter found Yinfeng a position at the Foxconn factory in Kunshan City, 80 miles from Shanghai. Yinfeng joined 50,000 other Foxconn workers at an enormous complex that covers more than 1 square mile, includes more than a dozen factory buildings and has its own dormitories, bank, and hospital. Foxconn assembles electronics devices for many major companies including HP, Dell and Apple.Yinfeng’s factory is responsible for the assembly of iPad devices. Her job consists of sitting at a workstation and waiting for a conveyor belt to deliver a partly assembled hard drive. She places two plastic chips inside the drive’s casing, inserts a device that redirects light in the drive and then fastens four screws with an electric screwdriver before sending the drive down the line. She is required to complete this procedure on at least 1,600 devices per day.Yinfeng works 10 hours per day on 6 days of the week. The first 8 hours are her regular shift and the other 2 hours are mandatory overtime. She lives in the Foxconn dormitory and eats her meals in the Foxconn cafeteria. The costs of her lodging and food are deducted from her paycheck. Yinfeng has no paid time off and no sick leave. If she misses a half day of work, she must pay a fine equivalent to a half day’s wages. If she misses three days of work she will be fired. She is paid $385 (?2,360) per month. Yinfeng is very happy with her new job and feels lucky to have received an opportunity at a factory where hundreds of job applicants are turned away each day.QuestionsWhy does Yinfeng Zhang consider this a good job? Use information from the International Labour Organization database and the United States Department of Labor International Labor Comparisons to compare the wage and working time at Foxconn to manufacturing jobs in the rest of China. Do you agree with Yinfeng that she is lucky to have her position at Foxconn?Describe the lifestyle Yinfeng can afford on her salary. For instance, based on her current wages can she afford to rent an apartment on her own, pay utility bills and shop for a variety of foods? Use the Numbeo cost of living database to determine how much these things cost in China. Do you think she is “rich” or “poor” compared to other people in China? Compared to people in the United States?In the United States, labor unions have been successful in negotiating for higher wages and better working conditions in many manufacturing operations. Is a labor union likely to help workers like Yinfeng Zhang? Academic articles about labor unions in China can be found in the CCBC library research databases.Create a corporate profile of Foxconn that includes its major operations and customers. How profitable is this company and how common are its products in the United States?What are the ethical issues associated with American companies sending manufacturing work overseas?Some advocacy organizations have called for consumers to boycott products made in overseas factories where wages are low and working conditions are poor. How successful have consumer boycotts been in bringing about positive change?ResourcesThere is a Library Guide for the topic of International Development on the CCBC Library website: The guide provides information sources helpful for this project. Particularly useful library research databases are Ethnic News Watch, JSTOR, LexisNexis Academic Business, Opposing Viewpoints, and Points of View Reference.Foxconn Corporate Website: International Labor Organization Database (ILOSTAT): Numbeo Cost of Living Database: Note: make sure you are checking the prices in the correct currency-- local currency or US dollarsUnited States Department of Labor, International Labor Comparisons: 39903405524500Si Thu Ko, Narong Seafood Company EmployeeSi Thu Ko is a 14 year old boy from the Mandalay region of Myanmar (a country also known as Burma). Until recently, Si Thu Ko lived with his family on a small 6 acre farm and helped his parents and 3 siblings grow rice in water filled “paddy” fields. His family lives in a house made of bamboo with a thatched roof. There is no electricity or indoor plumbing in any of the homes in the area and there are no cars or machinery to help with the farming. Although Si Thu Ko’s family is very poor by world standards, they are proud of the fact that all of the children were able to attend primary school through fifth grade and everyone in the family knows how to read and write. During the past two years, the family has been struggling to earn money because a persistent drought has reduced the water available for their fields. On many days there was not enough food for the family to eat. As the eldest son, Si Thu Ko felt he had a responsibility to help support the household so he decided to leave home to look for paid employment. Although Si Thu Ko was willing to work hard at any job, he discovered there were very few employment opportunities even in the large city of Mandalay. One day, he was approached by a man who offered him a job at a shrimp processing facility across the border in Thailand. The recruiter offered to handle all of the arrangements and permits.One week later, Si Thu Ko arrived in Thailand to begin his new job at the Narong Seafood Company. He joined 2,000 other workers whose job is to harvest shrimp from aquaculture “farms,” peel them, and package them for delivery to stores. All the workers at Narong Seafood Company live in the company compound, which is fenced and guarded by security personnel. Si Thu Ko’s wages are $10 per day (?300), the minimum wage in Thailand. Although Si Thu Ko was initially grateful to have found a job, he quickly became unhappy. A shrimp disease spreading across Southeast Asia reduced the number of shrimp to process and Si Thu Ko works only 2 or 3 days each week. He is always assigned to the night shift so he will be hidden from any labor inspectors who might visit the factory and notice that he is not the legal working age. In addition, a quarter of his paycheck is confiscated to pay for the costs of his travel and his immigration and work permits, which turned out to be fake. His manager informs him that he owes $240 (?7,500). Homesick and discouraged, he asks to leave, but he is told that he is not allowed to go home until his debt is paid. QuestionsAre the economic struggles of Si Thu Ko’s family in Myanmar unusual? What kinds of jobs are available in that country and what special economic development challenges does Myanmar face? Use information from the United Nations Human Development Indicators and the World Bank to determine whether or not the family’s experience is typical. Assuming Si Thu Ko is able to send home $80 per month in salary (after his expenses and debt are deducted from his paycheck), how much difference will this money make to his family in Myanmar? For instance, how much food and clothing would this money buy? Use the Numbeo cost of living database to determine how much these things cost in Myanmar. Do you think the money is enough to justify his absence from home?Si Thu Ko’s decision to leave home was motivated by a crisis on the family farm, but the family might have been able to get through the hard times if they could borrow a little money until the next season. In similar situations, microfinance loans have been used to keep farm families stable. Would microfinance lending have helped the family and kept Si Thu Ko at home? Academic articles about microfinance can be found in the CCBC library research databases.Create a corporate profile of Narong Seafood that includes its major customers. How profitable is this company and how common are its products in the United States?What are the ethical issues associated with child labor in developing countries? Some advocacy organizations have called for consumers to boycott products made in overseas factories where child labor, human trafficking or debt bondage are practiced. How successful have consumer boycotts been in bringing about positive change?ResourcesThere is a Library Guide for the topic of International Development on the CCBC Library website: HYPERLINK "" The guide provides information sources helpful for this project. Particularly useful library research databases are Ethnic News Watch, JSTOR, LexisNexis Academic Business, Opposing Viewpoints, and Points of View Reference.Narong Seafood Corporate Website: Numbeo Cost of Living Database: Note: make sure you are checking the prices in the correct currency-- local currency or US dollarsUnited Nations International Human Development Indicators for Myanmar: The World Bank Focus on Myanmar: Qanjorin Canto Camajá, APODIP Coffee Collective Employee34766255270500Qanjorin Canto Camajá is a 22 year old man living in Cobán, Guatemala. Qanjorin grew up on a coffee plantation outside the city with his parents and two brothers. His father worked on the large plantation and made a comfortable living by local standards. Qanjorin still lives with his parents in the house where he grew up, a four room cement block building with its own water well. There is no electricity in the village. Qanjorin attended five years of school, but chose not to continue to the 6th grade so he could help his father in the coffee fields. The family is Maya, the indigenous ethnic group of the region, and primarily speaks the Q’eqchi language although all the members of the family can speak a little Spanish. By the time he was 16 years old, Qanjorin was working full-time in the fields and was earning good wages because the coffee plantation where he worked, APODIP (Associación de Productores Orgánicos Para el Desarrollo Integral del Polochic), was part of a Fair Trade network that sold its gourmet coffee for high prices. Unfortunately, the peace that made this prosperity possible did not last. Drug trafficking gangs from Mexico and Colombia made steady incursions into the region around Cobán and the weak national government was unable to stop them. Law and order steadily eroded in the area as violent gangs terrorized ordinary people and paralyzed the local government by murdering any officials who opposed them. Entire families were sometimes killed by members of the vicious Los Zetas organization. The chaos in the region severely disrupted the coffee industry, making it impossible at times for the growers to fulfill orders from their foreign customers. Many farms and growers went out of business.The dangerous living conditions and poor economic prospects caused many people to leave the area and some, including Qanjorin’s two brothers, decided to migrate illegally to the United States. As the last of his siblings still living in Guatemala, Qanjorin is reluctant to follow his siblings to the United States and leave his parents behind. However, with some coffee farms closing and others turning to the production of coca plants for the drug trade, Qanjorin is having a hard time earning enough money to survive. At the best of times, he earns $214 (Q1,678) each month, but it is increasingly unusual for him to work full-time. Despite the risks, Qanjorin is making preparations to migrate to the United States at the end of the next growing season.QuestionsAre the economic struggles of Qanjorin’s family unusual? What kinds of jobs are available in Guatemala and what special economic development challenges does the country face? Use information from the United Nations Human Development Indicators and the World Bank to determine whether or not the family’s experience is typical. Describe the lifestyle Qanjorin can afford on his wages. For instance, based on his current wages could he afford to rent an apartment on his own, pay utility bills and shop for a variety of foods? Use the Numbeo cost of living database to determine how much these things cost in Guatemala. In his first years of working, Qanjorin was very fortunate to have been employed by a coffee plantation that was part of a fair trade network. What financial and other benefits do farmers receive from participating in the fair trade system? How do consumers of coffee contribute to the fair trade system?Guatemala is considered a “failed state.” Using information from the Foreign Policy magazine Failed States Index and other sources, explain what it means to be a failed state. What is it like to live in a failed state? How does a failed state like Guatemala affect its neighbors including the United States? What are the ethical issues associated with illegal migration?If Qanjorin follows his brothers and immigrates illegally to the United States? What kinds of work is he likely to obtain? What are the risks and dangers associated with this decision? Academic articles about undocumented workers in the United States can be found in the CCBC library research databases.ResourcesThere is a Library Guide for the topic of International Development on the CCBC Library website: The guide provides information sources helpful for this project. Particularly useful library research databases are Ethnic News Watch, JSTOR, LexisNexis Academic Business, Opposing Viewpoints, and Points of View Reference.APODIP Website: (Spanish only)Foreign Policy magazine Failed States Index: Numbeo Cost of Living Database: Note: make sure you are checking the prices in the correct currency-- local currency or US dollarsUnited Nations International Human Development Indicators for Guatemala: World Bank Focus on Guatemala: ................
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