Word: median
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...that the definition of full-time farmworkers as those who work over 150 days a year in the fields is "somewhat short of full-time." Unfortunately, many workers simply cannot find a full year's work. But Mr. Ferrar will find that, according to the Department of Agriculture, the median family income for families whose head works over 250 days a year in the fields is hardly any higher--$4500 a year instead of slightly over...
...Ferrara asks his readers to compare the figure of $400 a year I cite as median family income of farmworkers with "the figure of $1400...given by the UFW." But the $1400 figure refers to an individual worker's earnings. If Mr. Ferrara's point is that a farmworker family needs more than two people working full-time in the fields to earn even 40 per cent of the national median income, he is absolutely correct...
...Ferrara complains that the statistics I use refer to the whole country, not just California. He is correct; incomes in California are slightly higher (as is the cost of living). But according to the 1970 U.S. Census, the median family income for experienced California farmworkers (including foremen and skilled machine operators) is only $6200 a year, or 52 per cent of the state median. For Chicano farmworkers, the median is $600 lower. According to the Census data, over 20 per cent of all California farmworker families live below the poverty line. For Chicanos, the figure is 28 per cent. Even...
...study does not make it clear whether it does include piece rates. But in the particular chart to which you refer, the greatest number of farmworkers, 38 per cent, are in the last column marked simply "over 13.00" which would not contradict my figures, especially since $10.90 is the median and not the average. These 38 per cent would be in the west where payment is made mostly in cash and farm earnings are much higher than the rest of the country. But in many other places payment includes housing, room and board and the study states explicitly that these...
...this to the figure of $1400 for a whole year's work given by the UFW. My contention was that the UFW was distorting the facts to gain public support. You seem to have proven my point, especially since grape and lettuce workers earn much more than your national median figures. And it's not just income that they have distorted, but migrancy, farmer's incomes, UFW support among farmworkers, UFW's record on violence, Teamster contracts, the nature of the UFW hiring hall, Chavez's record on secret ballot elections and a number of other issues...