How Vulnerable Are U.S. Crop Workers?: Evidence from Representative Worker Data and Implications for COVID-19

Objectives This paper examines health profiles and work environments of hired U.S. farmworkers to understand the risk to essential workers and their employers, to the food supply, and to rural health systems such as what is possible with the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods Large-sample statistical methods and proprietary data from the National Agricultural Workers Survey from 2000 to 2018 were used to assess factors associated with exposure to COVID-19 and vulnerabilities associated with medical complications. Results An aging workforce and increased access to health care within the crop worker population has been associated with a higher reported incidence of diabetes, asthma, and heart disease among workers over time. These trends confirm a vulnerable, but essential, workforce with higher risks for COVID-19 complications than would have been true of U.S. farmworkers as a group in earlier years. Conclusions Increasing age and disease burden in the U.S. agricultural labor force puts workers at increased risk for developing COVID-19 complications. Limits to field sanitation and housing quality inflate the probability of the development of COVID-19 hotbeds in rural communities that could further compromise the physical health of workers, the economic health of farm establishments, the agricultural supply-chain, and rural health capacities. Additional and more targeted worker protections may minimize public health and economic costs in the long run.研究目的：本研究旨在考察美国受雇农场工人的健康概况与工作环境，以明确该核心必需劳动力群体、其雇主、食品供应链以及农村医疗系统所面临的各类风险，尤其聚焦新冠疫情背景下的潜在影响。 研究方法：采用大样本统计分析方法，结合2000年至2018年美国全国农业工人调查（National Agricultural Workers Survey）的专有数据集，评估与新冠病毒暴露相关的各类影响因素，以及与医疗并发症相关的易感风险。 研究结果：随着时间推移，农场工人群体呈现劳动力老龄化趋势，且医疗服务可及性不断提升，与此同时工人的糖尿病、哮喘与心脏病报告发病率亦随之升高。上述趋势表明，美国农场工人作为一支不可或缺的核心劳动力群体，其健康脆弱性日益凸显，相较于早年的农场工人整体群体，他们感染新冠病毒后出现并发症的风险显著更高。 研究结论：美国农业劳动力的老龄化趋势与疾病负担加重，使得工人感染新冠后出现并发症的风险进一步升高。田间卫生条件不足与住宿环境质量低下，会加剧农村社区形成新冠疫情聚集性暴发点的概率，进而进一步损害工人的身体健康、农场企业的经济状况、农业供应链稳定性以及农村医疗服务能力。从长远来看，出台更多针对性的工人保护政策，可最大程度降低公共卫生与经济层面的损失。