More farmworker women are bringing their children to work during the pandemic
By Hannah Critchfield
More mothers are bringing their children with them to work as a result, community health providers say, or sending older school-age daughters to work in the fields — driving an increase in child labor — while they stay home to tend to younger siblings.
While child care access is a problem that has plagued many North Carolina parents during the pandemic, farmworker women face added barriers and risks. Migrant families in particular are financially vulnerable to a loss of employment due to the presence of a child, as they tend to have fewer labor protections and receive no economic assistance from federal stimulus packages. Women, who also face high rates of sexual harassment in the field, must shoulder the responsibility for caring for a child while knowing they are likely to be the first to be laid off.