Background

Farm labor remains among the most unhealthy and underpaid occupations in the US, with a largely migrant and immigrant workforce that has been marginalized and exploited for decades.

For years, Oxfam has worked with organizations that advocate for the rights and welfare of farmworkers in the US. We support efforts to improve working and living conditions, raise wages, obtain rights to organize, and raise voices of the men and women who work in the fields.

  • Approximately 83 percent of farmworkers in the US have no health care coverage; for children, this rate is just above 90 percent.
  • Migrant farm workers usually make between $10,000 and $12,000 a year. Migrant farmworker household income in the U.S. is between $15,000 and $17,500 a year, well below the poverty line of $20,659.
  • Compared to international labor standards, US law provides weak protection for workers’ rights. Even so, farmworkers are excluded from the protections of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and most protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This means that unlike other workers, farmworkers have no right to overtime, no right to organize, and no sick leave under federal law, and often receive piece-rate wages that haven't changed significantly since 1978.
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