More jobs and less seasonal employment in California agriculture since 1990
Employment in California agriculture has increased over the past 30 years and has become less seasonal. There were an average of 404,000 farm jobs in California in 2020, 10% more than average employment of 367,000 in 1990. Meanwhile, seasonality, as measured by peak month employment divided by troug...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources
2023-08-01
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| Series: | California Agriculture |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2023a0008 |
| _version_ | 1797222023091453952 |
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| author | Z Rutledge P Martin |
| author_facet | Z Rutledge P Martin |
| author_sort | Z Rutledge |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Employment in California agriculture has increased over the past 30 years and has become less seasonal. There were an average of 404,000 farm jobs in California in 2020, 10% more than average employment of 367,000 in 1990. Meanwhile, seasonality, as measured by peak month employment divided by trough month employment, fell 22% over three decades, from 1.8 in 1990 to 1.4 in 2020. Most farmworkers have one farm employer a year, although that employer may be a labor contractor who moves workers from one farm to another. Most new workers in the California farm workforce are H-2A guest workers, the young and flexible Mexican workers who are legally authorized to work in the United States and who are often brought to farms by labor contractors. In the future, rising employment and declining seasonality, combined with an aging and settled farm workforce, may reduce farmworker migration and flexibility. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:14:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-266afcd5f6a4454d80771f4afe6a73cb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0008-0845 2160-8091 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:14:44Z |
| publishDate | 2023-08-01 |
| publisher | University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources |
| record_format | Article |
| series | California Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj.art-266afcd5f6a4454d80771f4afe6a73cb2024-04-04T19:56:08ZengUniversity of California Agriculture and Natural ResourcesCalifornia Agriculture0008-08452160-80912023-08-01772More jobs and less seasonal employment in California agriculture since 1990Z RutledgeP MartinEmployment in California agriculture has increased over the past 30 years and has become less seasonal. There were an average of 404,000 farm jobs in California in 2020, 10% more than average employment of 367,000 in 1990. Meanwhile, seasonality, as measured by peak month employment divided by trough month employment, fell 22% over three decades, from 1.8 in 1990 to 1.4 in 2020. Most farmworkers have one farm employer a year, although that employer may be a labor contractor who moves workers from one farm to another. Most new workers in the California farm workforce are H-2A guest workers, the young and flexible Mexican workers who are legally authorized to work in the United States and who are often brought to farms by labor contractors. In the future, rising employment and declining seasonality, combined with an aging and settled farm workforce, may reduce farmworker migration and flexibility.https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2023a0008 |
| spellingShingle | Z Rutledge P Martin More jobs and less seasonal employment in California agriculture since 1990 California Agriculture |
| title | More jobs and less seasonal employment in California agriculture since 1990 |
| title_full | More jobs and less seasonal employment in California agriculture since 1990 |
| title_fullStr | More jobs and less seasonal employment in California agriculture since 1990 |
| title_full_unstemmed | More jobs and less seasonal employment in California agriculture since 1990 |
| title_short | More jobs and less seasonal employment in California agriculture since 1990 |
| title_sort | more jobs and less seasonal employment in california agriculture since 1990 |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3733/ca.2023a0008 |
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