Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
Department of Public Health Education, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA.
Am J Ind Med. 2024 Dec;67(12):1121-1134. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23671. Epub 2024 Oct 15.
Essential workers across multiple industries faced a disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects were especially severe for agricultural and food processing workers, many of whom are members of the structurally vulnerable Latine community. Under current U.S. federal laws, children under 12 years old can legally work in agriculture, one of the most hazardous U.S. industries. Many of these working youth are Latine and experience health and educational inequities.
Using a community-based participatory research approach and a qualitative design, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews in North Carolina in 2022, with service providers in health, education, and advocacy fields (n = 10) and Latine youth farmworkers aged 10-17 (n = 24). We used participatory qualitative analysis methods and a reflexive thematic analysis to understand and describe the work experiences of these youth during the first 2 years of the pandemic.
Amidst precarious economic and school situations exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, many youths described an increased need to work to support their families. While aware and sometimes fearful of the added occupational health risks of COVID-19, youth and their families felt they had few other options. Service providers and youth described minimal employer-provided safety protocols or equipment, yet some workers organized their own attempts at safety protocols. Youth narratives imply limited knowledge of basic workplace safety requirements.
Study findings emphasize the urgent need to address structural vulnerabilities shaping workplace policies and norms to protect Latine youth farmworkers to support their healthy development.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间，多个行业的基本工作人员面临不成比例的发病率和死亡率负担。对于农业和食品加工工人来说，影响尤其严重，他们中的许多人是结构上脆弱的拉丁裔社区的成员。根据美国当前的联邦法律，12 岁以下的儿童可以合法地在农业领域工作，而农业是美国最危险的行业之一。这些工作的年轻人中有许多是拉丁裔，他们面临着健康和教育方面的不平等。
我们采用基于社区的参与式研究方法和定性设计，于 2022 年在北卡罗来纳州进行了半结构深入访谈，访谈对象包括卫生、教育和宣传领域的服务提供者（n=10）以及 10-17 岁的拉丁裔青年农场工人（n=24）。我们使用参与式定性分析方法和反思性主题分析来了解和描述这些青年在大流行的头两年的工作经历。
在 COVID-19 大流行加剧的不稳定经济和学校环境中，许多年轻人表示需要增加工作来养家糊口。尽管意识到并且有时担心 COVID-19 带来的额外职业健康风险，但青年及其家人觉得他们别无选择。服务提供者和青年描述了雇主提供的安全协议或设备很少，但有些工人自己组织了安全协议。青年的叙述暗示他们对基本工作场所安全要求的了解有限。
研究结果强调迫切需要解决塑造工作场所政策和规范的结构性脆弱性，以保护拉丁裔青年农场工人，支持他们的健康发展。
