Agricultural Worker Housing: A Review and a New Framework for Action

Abstract

Housing is a social determinant of health, acting as both a driver and indicator of social inequity. For migrant and seasonal farmworkers, it is difficult to tease apart the interaction between the environmental and social factors related to their housing, in conjunction with extreme poverty, immigration, precarious employment, and linguistic, cultural, and educational factors. The relationship of housing with employment and the transient nature of farmworkers’ occupancy add to the complexity. To assess the strengths, weaknesses, and research gaps and to identify areas requiring further investigation, we performed a critical review of the scientific and gray literature on farmworker housing and health. We propose a framework to focus research and suggest housing policy interventions to improve the health and wellbeing of this essential workforce.