Since World War II, the number of farmworkers has significantly
declined as technology has advanced. Yet, hired farmworkers as
a share of the total agricultural workforcewhich includes
farm operators and unpaid workershave increased since the
1940s and accounted, on average, for over one-third of agricultural
employment in the 1990s, up from one-quarter in the 1950s.
Less
than 1 percent of all U.S. wage and salary workers, hired farmworkers
make a significant contribution to agricultural output,
providing labor during critical production periods. Hired farmworkers
include those who reported their primary employment as farm managers
(10 percent), supervisors of farmworkers (5 percent), nursery workers
(3 percent), and farmworkers engaged in planting, cultivating,
and harvesting crops or tending to livestock (82 percent). The
number of hired farmworkers varies significantly throughout the
U.S. The West accounted for over 44 percent of all hired farmworkers
in 2000, and the West and South together accounted for almost 75
percent of hired farmworkers. The Northeast had the smallest number
of workers (7 percent). Over half of all hired farmworkers (460,000)
were located in five StatesCalifornia (30 percent), Texas
(10 percent), Florida (6 percent), New York (4 percent), and North
Carolina (3 percent).
In 2001, over 80 percent of hired farmworkers
were male, nearly 46 percent Hispanic, and nearly 75 percent
less than 45 years old.
Over half had not finished 12 years of school, and over a third
were not U.S. citizens. By contrast, slightly more than 50 percent
of all wage and salary workers were male in 2001, over 70 percent
White, and over 60 percent younger than 45. More than half had
13 or more years of school, and more than 90 percent were U.S.
citizens.
With median weekly earnings of $345 in 2001, hired farmworkers
are some of the lowest paid full-time workers in the U.S. Several
factors contribute to their poor economic situation: low wages,
seasonal employment, weak attachment to the labor force, and
limited participation in the nonfarm labor market. Most receive
few benefits
and work long hours in jobs that are sometimes unsafe. Some farm
labor experts suggest that as many as half of hired farmworkers
are in this country illegally. Their ability to secure better
jobs in agriculture or elsewhere in the economy is often hindered
by
immigration policy, cultural differences that may impede their
integration into the broader society, lack of access to education
and other training to enhance skills, and other barriers. Long-term
concerns surrounding the farm workforce, such as low economic
returns to work, poor working conditions, and occupational safety
issues,
have been further complicated by a greater reliance on immigrant
labor.