The Impact of Migrant Travel Patterns on the Undercount of Hispanic Farm Workers
Author: Gabbard, Susan; Kissam, Edward
Date Published: 1993
This paper reviews the national data on farm workers in relation to the census undercount of farmworkers and the role played by migration in the undercount: Data reviewed in this paper is from the Census of Population (COP), the Current Population Survey (CPS), and the National Agricultural Worker Survey (NAWS) as well as from recent ethnographic case studies. Previous analyses have explored the definitional difficulties arising from varying concepts of hired farmworkers, migrant and seasonal farmworkers, and seasonal agricultural service workers as major factors giving rise to serious inconsistencies among standard data series on the numbers and characteristics of farmworkers. In the current paper, we review, first, these inconsistencies, and then move on to explore the main components of the actual farmworker undercount -- I.e., problems which are not primarily definitional. To minimize the problems which stem from varying definitions farmworkers, our analysis focuses on a specific subset of farmworkers -- seasonal agricultural services workers. (SAS). This definition, codified by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) has the advantage of identifying a large socioeconomic group corresponding closely to the longstanding concept of "migrant and seasonal farmworkers."
Date Published: 1993
This paper reviews the national data on farm workers in relation to the census undercount of farmworkers and the role played by migration in the undercount: Data reviewed in this paper is from the Census of Population (COP), the Current Population Survey (CPS), and the National Agricultural Worker Survey (NAWS) as well as from recent ethnographic case studies. Previous analyses have explored the definitional difficulties arising from varying concepts of hired farmworkers, migrant and seasonal farmworkers, and seasonal agricultural service workers as major factors giving rise to serious inconsistencies among standard data series on the numbers and characteristics of farmworkers. In the current paper, we review, first, these inconsistencies, and then move on to explore the main components of the actual farmworker undercount -- I.e., problems which are not primarily definitional. To minimize the problems which stem from varying definitions farmworkers, our analysis focuses on a specific subset of farmworkers -- seasonal agricultural services workers. (SAS). This definition, codified by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) has the advantage of identifying a large socioeconomic group corresponding closely to the longstanding concept of "migrant and seasonal farmworkers."
