alt Hacker NewsThat whole region used to also be the furniture capital of the world specifically High Point North Carolina which is still a massive trade hub, but I was in furniture briefly and learned how basically from the 1950s till the 1980s the entire furnishings industry was exported to Asia due to rising costs of labor
Yep that was one of the reasons for sure as was environmental regulations and free trade agreements. I am not even opposed to that phenomenon as it’s now more affordable for people to buy furniture and clothes (my grandparents owned a fabric store and it was common to have sewing parties for new parents to make clothes for the kids because it was too expensive to buy clothes otherwise). But child labor was cheaper than adult labor and one of the drivers of these movements across state and national borders.