Undercontracting networks and household labor in the clothing industry: a study of the Campinas'region

This article discusses the undercontracting networks and the new "usages" of household labor as central elements of the restructuring processes of the clothing sector in the nineties, as well as their impact on the labor and health conditions of the working women. This is done through research in the Campinas region, State of São Paulo on small and medium sized clothing industries, including the wide undercontracting network, whose lowest point is household labor. Data show that women are the hands traditionally undercontracted by the clothing industries and that they work on the lowest and most vulnerable positions in the productive chain. They also show that household labor looks renewed, as a central instrument of productivity increase at low cost and as an alternative way of entering the competition with the larger industries.

Female Labor; Clothing Industry; Undercontracting Networks; Household Labor