Social Responsibility

A real living wage is one of the core measures of social responsibility. A real living wage refers to an amount that is enough to cover the basic costs of living, including housing, food, health care, insurances, transport and children’s education. In developing countries, where government provided social security is lacking or missing, it is particularly important that wages sufficiently cover all the above-mentioned expenses.
 
At Kaiko, we track the wages paid by all our manufacturers through annual surveys. Salaries by manufacturers working within the EU are regulated through legislation and as such easy to track. In Nepal, however, the legally set minimum wage is insufficient to cover living costs, and as such we pay particular attention to salaries there. In determining fair wages there, we use the World Trade Organisation’s salary model which has determined a real living wage based on standard of living calculations in Kathmandu.

We support Nepalese women in improving their work environments and providing fair jobs to people in their region. Donated funds are delivered to Nepal through our own projects and team efforts as well as in collaboration with Women’s Bank.
 
In 2021 we donated funds directly to Nepalese people who were impoverished due to the COVID-19 crisis. Donations were also used for training our local Nepal-team.
 
Part of the donations are directed to grassroots training efforts by Women’s Bank, which enables us to reach women in remote regions who do not have the same employment opportunities as women in Kathmandu have.