It points to the "stark contrast" between the large financial rewards given to some fashion firm bosses and the low wages paid to overseas workers.
Simon McRae, senior campaigns officer for War on Want, said: "This report exposes retailers' empty rhetoric on ethical treatment for workers who make their clothes but remain trapped in poverty."
Staff in Bangladesh earn 7 percent of a UK living wage -- even taking into account the cheaper cost of living. This compares with 9 percent of a UK living wage earned by the average garment worker in India, 11 percent in China and Vietnam, 14 percent in Thailand and 25 percent in Morocco.
The charity wants legislation to make UK firms enforce ethical labor standards throughout their supply chains.
On Thursday, Mothercare said it demanded that all its suppliers worldwide "comply with our ethical sourcing policy and code of conduct, which conforms fully with the Ethical Trading Initiative."
It added that its wages policy complied with the ETI and stated that "wages and benefits must meet, at a minimum, the national legal standards, local legal standards, or industry benchmark standards, whichever is higher."
The designer Jeff Banks, speaking on behalf of Matalan, said that all factories supplying Matalan had to first complete an audit ensuring that wages paid were above the minimum wage.
When asked about a living wage, he replied: "If the minimum wage does not meet the living wage of an industry, that's something for that country's government. It's beyond our adjudication."
War on Want quotes Arcadia Group as saying that it "continues to support the principle of a living wage," but that such a concept is "beyond the influence of one single brand or company."
An Arcadia spokesman added that it "will also continue to support and participate in multi-stakeholder initiatives which endeavor to find a solution to the sustainable implementation of the living wage."
M&S told the report's authors that all employees at suppliers receive "at least the minimum wage."
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