Housing for Families and Unaccompanied Migrant Farmworkers© Housing Assistance Council, August 1997 Permission is granted ONLY to nonprofit community-based organizations to reproduce and/or adapt this document, and only for their own use. Every year, migrant farmworkers uproot themselves and sometimes their families to travel hundreds of miles in search of work. Usually the compensation they receive for their hard labor is inadequate. Farmworkers are one of the poorest working groups in the United States. Not only do they lack sufficient pay, they also lack other necessities, such as health care, transportation, adequate education and decent housing.1 Migrant farmworkers' housing situations are different from those of nonmigrant populations. Traditionally, farmers provided shelter in farm labor camps, but the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS)2 in 1994 and 1995 found that only 32 percent of farmworkers lived in employer-provided housing on or off the farm.3 This means that approximately 67 percent of all farmworkers lived off the farm (property not owned/administered by the employer).4 Workers and their families are forced to seek shelter in multiple locations during the year, usually in small communities with very little rental housing available. Compounding the workers' difficulty, low prevailing wage rates and limited days of employment have resulted in two-thirds of migrants living below the poverty line. For them, most housing is unaffordable. As a result, many of them experience very poor housing conditions, including dilapidated structures, overcrowding, and homelessness. Migrant farmworkers travel unaccompanied5 or with their families. Under both circumstances, they must cope with the lack of adequate housing. It appears that unaccompanied workers experience poor housing quality even more often than do migrant families; however, many farmworkers and advocates feel that it is easier for unaccompanied farmworkers to withstand substandard housing conditions. In addition, it is known that farmworker housing programs tend to focus on the needs of families. This report examines the need and availability of housing suitable for family and unaccompanied migrant farmworkers and examines whether resources for housing unaccompanied migrant workers are adequate. Lack of data on the housing needs of families and unaccompanied migrant farmworkers compelled the Housing Assistance Council (HAC) to study their needs through case studies. The case studies provide a migrant farmworker perspective on the issues examined in this report. |