Seasonal migration for work by poor rural families is a phenomenon that is escalating as the agrarian crisis mounts. Millions of families that migrate are compelled to take their children along, leaving school and a normal childhood behind. They spend several months every year at work sites such as brick kilns, salt pans, plantations and stone…

California, the largest employer of seasonal labor in the United States, provides low-cost housing for migrant farmworkers in 15 counties during the harvest season from April through November. In 1987, the 21st year of data collection, 27 housing centers with 2,071 housing units served 2,461 families containing 12,174 individuals. About 53% of…