2. The stereotypical MSFW
•Here illegally
•Can’t speak English
•Hard workers
•Send most of their money home
•Will work for the lowest wages
Photo by Gosia Wozniacka
3. Photo by Joe
Klamar/AFP/Getty Images
Who Are MSFWs?
•Seasonal Farmworker
•Migrant Farmworker
•Migrant Food Processing Worker
•Worked on a farm during a planting/harvest
season or in a food-processing business
•“Migrant” means had to travel to get there
and is not able to return to permanent
residence on the same day
•Also have industry, time frame, income
requirements
•In SC…
Most are in Charleston, Clarendon, and
Colleton counties
72% are Hispanic or Latino
Most are male
Most are 22-44 years old
4. Barriers for MFSWs
Language
74% of Latino adults in SC speak English
“less than very well”--also called having
Limited English Proficiency (LEP)
Highest percentage in the Southeast region
LEP affects healthcare, legal issues,
employment, and education
Photo by Scott Robinson
5. Barriers for MSFWs
Education
41% of all Latinos in SC do NOT have a high
school diploma or GED
Of those MSFWs registered in SCWOS, only
11% have a high school diploma
Over 34% have only a 6 th or 7 th grade
education!
Photo by Rainer Ehrhardt
6. Barriers for MSFWs
Low Wages
Most Hispanics in agriculture work in:
•Animal Slaughtering/Processing
•Landscaping Services
•Crop Production
Family income averaged between $15,000
and $17,499 per year (US).
These are very low-paying jobs in SC:
•Slaughterers & Meatpackers $23,390
•Landscaping Workers: $21,000
•Farmworkers: $18,460
Without more education, this will continue.
Photo by Bread for the World
7. A final thought:
The children…
Photo from “The Harvest”
directed by Roberto Ramano
•300,000-400,000 children are employed as
farmworkers (US)
•Often work 10 or more hours a day with
sharp tools, heavy machinery, and dangerous
pesticides
•Die at 4 times the rate of other working youth
•Farmworker children drop out of school in
alarming numbers
•A short 8-minute video showing the life a
child farmworker:
http://latinalista.com/2013/11/viernes-videobone
Notas do Editor
Undocumented workers make up about half of the nation's 1 million to 1.2 million farm-labor force (Daniel González, The Arizona Republic)
In the United States last year, more than $120 billion was sent by workers to families abroad - making it the largest sender of remittances in the world. More than $23 billion went to Mexico, $13.45 billion to China, $10.84 billion to India and $10 billion to the Philippines, among other recipients. (www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271455/Revealed-How-immigrants-America-sending-120-BILLION-struggling-families-home.html#ixzz2l6RvjC1O)
Farm owners have trouble finding enough laborers: H-2A brings in non-immigrant foreign workers temporarily
Construction is 4th
Family income: According to the most recent National Agricultural Workers Survey
ANYONE KNOW WHAT THE AVERAGE WAGE IN SC IS?
WHAT ABOUT THE FEDERAL POVERTY THRESHOLD?
Compare to SC’s overall average wage of $38,700
And
The Federal poverty rate of $23,550
RECAP:
Not all stereotypes are true…but some are
Barriers include language, education, and low income
Children are suffering
Legally, they can work at 12 yrs old
Lack of affordable or available childcare forces many parents to bring children into the fields
Farmworker children at 4 times as likely to dropout of school