Serving Migrant Communities

Statistics

According to the National Agricultural Workers Survey,⁶⁸ 75 percent of migrant and seasonal farm workers were born in Mexico, 23 percent in the United States, 2 percent in Central America, and 1 percent in other countries. According to the same survey, migrant and seasonal farm workers are on average 31 years old and have lived in the United States for 10 years. Eighty percent are male. More than 75 percent of migrant and seasonal farm workers earned less than $10,000 per year; 77 percent earned $5.94 per hour on average.

Despite these low wages, less than 1 percent received cash assistance welfare or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). The median level of workers' education is 6th grade; 20 percent have completed less than 3 years of education. Approximately 85 percent reported that they would have difficulty reading and understanding written information even if it was written in their native languages.