The U.S. Public Health Service funds some migrant health centers to help provide care to farmworkers, but not nearly enough to meet the need. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 300,000 farmworkers suffer acute pesticide poisoning each year. Anecdotal reports from clinicians indicate that many cases of pesticide poisoning are unreported because patients do not seek treatment, or are misdiagnosed because the symptoms of pesticide poisoning can resemble those of viral infection. The circumstances of farmworker children are particularly poignant. Poverty and migration make it difficult for farmworker children to create a different future for themselves.
Constant mobility makes it hard for farmworker children to complete their education.
The median educational level for the head of a migrant household was 6 years in 1986. This is a consequence of the agricultural and political system in which they work. Despite well-documented deprivations, farmworkers are either specifically excluded from some key labor laws, such as the National Labor Relations Act, or have legal standards reduced for them, as with many child labor laws. The churches have been very important in the farmworker movement in this country. In the sixties and seventies, attempts to unionize farmworkers to obtain just wages and better working conditions had much support from the churches.