Who are farmworkers?
There are an estimated 1.6 million farmworkers working on seasonal crops in the fields, with a total of 4.5 million farmworkers and their dependents. There are another 900,000 doing livestock and other kinds of agricultural jobs on ranches and farms. Among farmworkers, about 42% are "migrant" workers, meaning that they travel significant distances to find work. Some travel across the U.S.-Mexico border and some travel within the United States from home bases, especially in Florida, Texas, Arizona and California. Farmworkers' jobs are spread throughout the country, with a significant percentage living and working in California.
Farmworkers face many obstacles in employment. According to the most recent National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), the large majority of farmworkers are immigrants, and the majority of those immigrants, 53%, lack authorized immigration status under U.S. laws. 78% of farmworkers are foreign-born, with United States citizens making up 25% of the workforce and legal permanent residents comprising 21% of the workforce. Farmworker education and literacy skills are very limited, especially in the English language. The average highest grade completed was the 7th grade.
Poverty is prevalent in farmworker communities and few farmworkers have employment benefits or access to income supports. In 2001-2002, at least thirty percent of farmworkers earned less than the poverty guidelines. The annual incomes were about $10,000 to $12,499 for individuals and about $15,000-$17,499 per family, with the average wage being $7.25 an hour. Most farmworkers do not receive benefits like sick leave, paid vacation or health insurance that have become commonplace in the U.S. Because many agricultural employers are exempt from unemployment taxes, numerous farmworkers are not eligible for unemployment benefits even though they perform jobs that are by their nature seasonal and intermittent. Despite the high level of poverty and lack of benefits, most farmworkers do not receive any public benefits. In 2001-2002, only 8% of farmworkers received food stamps, 11% received WIC and 15% received Medicaid.
About twenty percent of farmworkers in the fields are women. Women farmworkers face particular obstacles in the male-dominated agricultural sector, including sexual harassment by supervisors and absorbing the primary responsibility in the family for the difficult task of finding affordable daycare. The lack of benefits like sick leave and paid vacation make it even more difficult to balance work and family obligations.
For more information about farmworkers, click here to read a report providing an overview of United States labor laws and farmworkers
Sources:
U.S. Department of Labor, Findings from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) 2001-2002: A Demographic and Employment Profile of United States Farm Workers, National Agricultural Workers Survey Research Report No. 9 (March 2005)
U.S. Department of Labor, Migrant Farmworkers Pursuing Security in an Unstable Labor Market, National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) Research Report No. 5 (May 1994)
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