This chapter addresses agricultural workers' national origin, age,
gender, and their right to work legally in the United States.
- The proportion of foreign-born workers rose 10% from 1989 to 1995.
Seven in ten agricultural workers were born outside the United States.
- Farm workers were quite young; two-thirds were under the age of
thirty-five.
- The proportion of farm workers who were younger than 17 doubled from
4% in 1989 to 8%; most young workers were either white U.S. born or
Mexicans and were found in specific regions of the country1.
- The participation of women in farm work declined over the last
several years from 25% to 19%. One in three U.S. born workers was a
woman whereas only one in eight foreign-born workers was a woman.
A fundamental characteristic of farm workers and a good place to start
discussion of this population is their racial and ethnic diversity. To
simplify this discussion, the farm work population has been divided into
three U.S. born and three foreign-born groups. The three U.S. born groups
are: (1) farm workers who are white and not Hispanic; (2) farm workers who
identify themselves as Hispanic; and (3) all other farm workers born in
the United States. The three foreign-born groups are: (1) farm workers
born in Mexico; (2) farm workers born in other Latin American countries;
and (3) farm workers born in all other countries, including the
Philippines, Southeast Asia, Haiti, and English-speaking Caribbean
islands.
Farm workers were predominantly Hispanic; most were foreign-born (see
Figure 1.1). Almost 7 out of 10 farm workers were foreign-born. Of the
foreign-born workers, 94% were born in Mexico. Among the remaining 3 out
of 10 farm workers born in the United States, approximately two-thirds
were non-Hispanic whites, and one-third were of Hispanic background. A
very small percentage (<3% of all farm workers) represented other
ethnic groups including African American and Asian American farm workers.
| Figure 1.1 |
 |
| Source: NAWS 1994-95 |
U.S. born Hispanic workers, approximately 10% of all farm workers,
included a variety of ethnic groups. A clear majority (66%) were of
Mexican or other Latin ancestry, and Puerto Rican workers made up the
remaining one-third of this population (see Table 1.1).
Several changes occurred in the ethnic composition of farm workers. Over
the seven-year period of the survey, the population of foreign-born farm
workers increased by 10 %; by 1994-95 they comprised 69% of all farm
workers. This rise in foreign-born workers was due primarily to a dramatic
increase in the proportion of Mexican farm workers, from 53% of all farm
workers in FY 1990-91 to 65% in FY 1994-95. Over the same period of time,
the ratio of farm workers who were born in the United States dropped to
31%, due to a decrease in the number of both U.S.-born white workers and
U.S.-born Hispanic workers.
FOREIGN-BORN
| ETHNICITY |
% OF FOREIGN-
BORN |
% OF TOTAL |
| Mexican |
94% |
65% |
| Other Latin |
5% |
3% |
| Asian |
<1% |
<1% |
| Other Caribbean |
<1% |
<1% |
| Other |
<1% |
<1% |
| TOTAL FOREIGN-BORN |
100% |
69% |
U.S. BORN
| ETHNICITY |
% OF U.S. BORN
|
% OF TOTAL |
| Whites (non-Hispanic) |
59% |
18% |
| Hispanics |
32% |
10% |
| African-Americans (non-Hispanic) |
8% |
2% |
| Other |
1% |
<1% |
| TOTAL U.S. BORN |
100% |
31% |
In our analysis period (1994-1995), farm workers as a group were quite
young. Two-thirds were younger than 35; over one-fourth were 21 or
younger. A relatively small number of farm workers (15%) continued to work
past the age of 44, and only 6% were over age 55 (see Figure 1.2).
| Figure 1.2 |
 |
| Source: NAWS 1994-95 |
The ethnic groups discussed earlier varied with regard to workers'
median age (see Figure 1.3). U.S. born white workers were the youngest
(median age=25). All the groups of Hispanic workers, including
foreign-born Mexicans and other Latinos as well as U.S.-born Hispanics
were relatively young. The median ages of these groups ranged from 28 to
30 years. Other U.S. born workers, primarily African and Asian Americans
(median age=35) and foreign-born workers of Asian, Pacific Island and
Caribbean origins (median age=41) tended to be older than other farm
workers.
| Figure 1.3 |
 |
| Source: NAWS 1994-95 |
Although the median age of farm workers remained stable over the course
of the survey, there was an increase in the proportion of farm workers who
were very young. The proportion of workers 17 and younger doubled from 4 %
of the entire farm worker population in FY 1990-91 to 8% in FY 1992-93.
The increase of young workers in the population was due primarily to an
influx of young U.S. born whites into the work force. In FY 1989, only 23%
of young workers were white, whereas whites comprised 48% of the young
workers in FY 1994-95. The proportion of young Mexican workers remained
fairly stable over this time period; 36% of young workers were Mexican
nationals. That almost half of farm workers in this age group were white
was surprising given that, overall, U.S. born white workers represented
only 18% of the farm worker population.
Nearly one-half of these young white U.S. born farm workers came from
farm backgrounds; 52% said their parents worked on a farm at some point in
time. Very young Mexican workers were even more likely to come from farm
backgrounds; 61% said their parents had recently done farm labor in the
United States.
Young, white farm workers tended to live in somewhat different
geographical regions of the country than their Mexican counterparts.
Two-thirds (67%) lived in the Midwest or Great Plains. Mexicans workers 17
and younger, by contrast, were most commonly found in the West, Midwest,
and Southeast regions of the country (28%, 31%, and 21%, respectively).
Only one in six young U.S. born white farm workers worked in harvest
jobs, compared to one-half of young Mexican workers. Additionally, fewer
young white farm workers planned to continue doing farm work as a
long-term career; only one in four (27%) said that they would stay in farm
work for more than five years. A larger proportion of young Mexican farm
workers (50%) intended to remain in farm work for more than five years.
Native white workers, particularly young white workers, continued to
have a presence in the farm labor force. Trends revealed by these data
demonstrate that, although U.S. born whites made up a smaller proportion
of the farm labor population in FY 1994-95 than in FY 1990-91, young
whites were still entering the labor force in certain regions of the
country and in certain tasks.
There was an overall decline in the proportion of women in the farm
labor force from the beginning of this study. In the late 1980s, one in
four farm workers (25%) was a woman, while in the mid-1990s that ratio had
dropped to one in five (19%).
Women farm workers differed somewhat from the overall farm worker
population in terms of ethnic makeup; approximately one-half (52%) of all
farm worker women were born in the United States as compared to
one-quarter of the male farm workers (see Figure 1.4). Of these U.S. born
women workers, two out of three were non-Hispanic white. Of the remaining
farm worker women, those 48% who were born abroad, nine out of ten were
Mexicans. Among all U.S.-born Hispanic workers, there was a striking
contrast between Puerto Rican workers and others; only 4% of Puerto Rican
workers were women, whereas 37% of non-Puerto Rican Hispanic workers born
in the United States were women.
| Figure 1.4 |
 |
| Source: NAWS 1994-95 |
Proportionally, women comprised a larger part of the U.S. born farm
worker population than they did among workers born abroad; every third
U.S. born farm worker was a woman while only one in eight foreign-born
farm workers was a woman.
There were also differences between U.S.-born workers and foreign-born
workers when gender and age were considered together. Among U.S. born
workers, women tended to be older than their male counterparts (32 and 25
years old, respectively) while among the foreign-born farm workers, there
was no meaningful difference in age between men and women (29 and 30 years
old, respectively).
Similar to farm workers as a whole group, one in five (18%) young (17
years or younger) farm workers was female, but this differed according to
place of birth. One in six young U.S. born white workers was female
compared to one in ten young Mexican workers. Examining young female
workers as a group, three in four (74%) were born in the United States and
one in four (26%) was born abroad.
1 The NAWS interviews farmworkers 14 years
of age and older. This estimate includes only interviewees. An analysis of
workers below 14 would demonstrate the proportion of child labor in
agriculture. This information will be analyzed in a later report.
