Two Charts Show Why Apple's Fight Against Supplier Labor Violations Is Far From Over

Apple faces an uphill battle to clean up its vast supply chain

Foxconn employees operate on the assembly line at the Foxconn factory in Longhua, Shenzhen, China, on May 26, 2010.

Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
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Apple just released its annual audit of conditions within its sprawling supply chain. It's the company's ninth self-critique and provides a bruising look inside the lives of those building iPhones overseas who allow Apple to collect record profits in California.

While Apple has gone to great lengths to improve its operations, many problems persist. Each year, as the chart below shows, children continue to be found working in factories; pregnant women are unfairly screened and discriminated against; and workers are getting duped into paying excessive fees to job recruiters in exchange for work at an Apple supplier, a practice known as debt-bonded servitude.