About Illinois Farmwork
Illinois' vegetable, dairy and sod farms, fruit orchards and nurseries employ 20,800 farmworkers seasonally. | |
Illinois' agricultural industry hires farmworkers for planting, harvesting, hoeing, detasseling, weeding, sowing, cultivating, bunching, picking, thinning, packing, loading and transporting. | |
Illinois' crops include apples, asparagus, bell peppers, beans, berries, cabbage, chives, corn, horseradish, lettuce, melons, onions, peaches, pumpkins, soybeans, spinach, squash, tomatoes, squash and much more. | |
Twenty-first century transformations in the agricultural industry have changed Illinois’ farm labor market, e.g., new technology, expansion of towns into former farm land, diverse crop schedules. |
About Illinois Farmworker Families
Low Income | |||||||||||||
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Unemployment, Underemployment | |||||||||||||
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Lack of Education | |||||||||||||
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Substandard Housing | |||||||||||||
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Discrimination toward farmworkers who are U.S. citizens and documented aliens as immigration fears have grown | |||||||||||||
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Obstacles to School Success for Migrant Children and Youth
Frequent mobility during upstream migration during school terms | |
Disruptions in school attendance when it’s essential for economic survival to work alongside family members | |
Significant differences in state and local standards and requirements | |
Limited English language skills at home | |
Difficulty of serious academic study after a long day of manual labor | |
Lack of access to technology exacerbates the digital divide | |
Gaps in educational skills and concepts that impact standards-based assessments tied directly to high school graduation | |
No support or preparation for post-secondary education | |
No career exploration for entry into the twenty-first century workforce |
Health Disparities Among Farmworkers and Latinos in Rural Illinois
Health disparities arising from | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Impact of health disparities | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Occupational risks for migrant and seasonal farmworkers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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