The Challenge of Housing California's Hired Farm Laborers

The author identifies migrant housing issues among California's farm laborers. Utilizing in-person interviews and survey results from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) and the California Agricultural Worker Health Survey (CAWHS), this report examines trends in occupancy patterns, health outcomes, and public and private initiatives to provide housing for some farm laborer families (Abstractor: Author and Website Staff).

“…Employer provided on-farm housing for laborers has reached a nadir. Today, all but a relative handful of workers obtain housing off-farm. The very high housing cost in California, in rural areas as well as in urban centers, makes it especially difficult for farm laborers to afford even the most modest dwelling. “… California’s agriculture industry continues to enjoy remarkable growth, with gross cash receipts reaching a new record high of $31.7 billion in 200 (p.2)….The Post-IRCA surge of the labor force in agriculture is now understand to have exceeded increased demand (Villarejo & Runsten, 1993:23-24). This burgling labor surplus made it possible for employers to bid down wages as well as undermine the influence of labor organizations. “The pattern of hiring is also quite different than what was the case as recently as the 1980s. Today’s labor market is bifurcated. There are ever-increasing numbers of regular or year-round workers, who are mostly directed hired by farm operators or farm management companies. These factors have contributed to the changed housing pattern. The surplus of agricultural workers of the late 1980s and 1990s and the increased reliance on farm labor contractors made it less important for farmers and ranchers to offer housing as an incentive to attract workers” (p.3).

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2012
• Author(s): Villarejo, Don
• Organizational Author(s): Organizational authors not identified
• Funding Source: Funding source not identified
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by:
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies