Children are a significant part of the agricultural workforce.
Although accurate counts of the farmworker population continues to evade even the best statisticians, United Farmworkers Union estimates that as many as 800,000 children work in agriculture. Migration from one agricultural work area to another also compounds the problems for the migrant farmworker family. Constant moving, short periods of employment, longer periods of unemployment, income fluctuations dependent upon the crop and crop conditions, and annual disasters all play a part in the disruption of education and economic stability of the migrant and seasonal farmworker family. Almost half of all documented farmworkers in this country are U.S. citizens, and the overwhelming majority of foreign-born farmworkers are legal U.S. residents. Long hours and strenuous work take their toll, causing excessive absenteeism.