Background: Although children as young as 10 years can work in agriculture, little research has addressed their occupational health. This paper describes a large, multicomponent study of hired Latinx child farmworkers, and the characteristics of children participating in this study.
Methods: Survey interviews were conducted in 2017 with 202 Latinx children aged 10-17 years employed in agriculture across North Carolina (NC).
Results: Most (81.2%) participants were born in the United States, 37.6% were female, and 21.3% were aged 10-13 years. Most (95.1%) were currently enrolled in school. Thirty-six (17.8%) were migrant workers. 34.7% had worked in agriculture for 1 year; 18.3% had worked 4+ years. 33.7% worked piece rate. 57.4% worked in tobacco. Participants in western NC differed in personal and occupational characteristics from those in eastern NC.
Conclusions: This study has enrolled a large and diverse child farmworker sample. This overview indicates several important issues for further analysis.
Keywords: agricultural safety; child labor; minority health; occupational health; vulnerable populations.
© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.