Farm Workers in the United States

Abstract

Abstract Agriculture has unusual demographics. Most farm employers are older, white, and US citizens, while most farm workers are younger, minority, and noncitizens. The slowdown in unauthorized Mexico-US migration since 2008–9 means that there is an aging and settled Mexican-born farm workforce as well as youthful Mexican H-2A guest workers. Half of US farm workers are in the Pacific coast states, including a third in California, where state governments have enacted laws that require farm workers to be treated like nonfarm workers. This chapter opens several windows onto farm workers, explaining why and how the data sources vary in size and clarity to explain who works on US farms but converge in showing that US farm workers include a shrinking number of unauthorized and nonmigrant farm workers alongside a rising number of younger Mexican H-2A guest workers who fill seasonal farm jobs.