Migrant Farm Workers

A seasonal farmworker is someone who is working full time making their major income doing farm work for part of the year. A migrant farmworker is someone who changes their resident at least 75 miles to do seasonal work.

Quick Facts

  1. There are 1 to 2 million migrant and seasonal farm workers within the US.
  2. Most of farmworkers, about 90 %, are Latino and about 80% are born in Mexico. In addition, 20-25 % are indigenous people.
  3. Farmworkers are generally unaccompanied men.
  4. Roughly 20% – 30% of farmworkers are women.
  5. At least half of farmworkers speak limited English, have limited formal education and are low income.

Agriculture has few safety regulations which is problematic for farm workers. According to the federal standards children 10 years of age can be employed as a farm worker with parental consent and children 14 years of age without parental consent or a work permit.

Farm workers face various health issues including occupational injuries from chemical exposures and musculoskeletal disorders, chronic conditions (diabetes and heart disease), infectious disease (tuberculosis and sexual transmitted infections), mental health and child developmental issue.