The Effect of Continuing Education Participation on Agricultural Worker Outcomes

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The Effect of Continuing Education Participation on Agricultural Worker Outcomes

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2011-14

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Migrant farmworkers are among the poorest members of the working class served by the U.S. public workforce investment system. Stated goals of job training and employment assistance programs within this system, such as the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP), include assisting migrant and seasonal farmworkers and their dependents increase "economic stability" by steadying agricultural employment and developing job skills. While important for strategic planning pertaining to future workforce investments, limited academic literature exists on migrant education programs, particularly on understanding the dynamics between continuing education participation and worker outcomes. This study investigates the effects of continuing education participation on wages, annual week allocations across agricultural and nonagricultural employment and time abroad, and poverty in this population. Data come from the U.S. Department of Labor's National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS), a nationally and regionally representative survey of employed U.S. farmworkers. Parametric and semi-parametric regression analysis suggests that continuing education participation is associated with higher wages all else equal, though variation across individual program categories is large. Furthermore, program participation is found positively related to both annual weeks in agricultural and nonagricultural work and negatively related to weeks spent outside of the U.S. and to poverty.