US domestic workers' willingness to accept agricultural field jobs

Abstract

Worker scarcity in US agricultural field jobs has occurred often, particularly before COVID-19. Because US domestic workers typically forgo field jobs, their participation could potentially alleviate the scarcity. We implement an attribute-based discrete choice experiment administered before and during COVID-19 to evaluate US domestic workers' willingness to accept field jobs and valuation for non-pecuniary benefits. Domestic workers' average pre-pandemic reservation wage rate of $23.57 per hour was 68% larger than the 2019 national average field-worker wage of $13.99. Non-pecuniary benefits (insurance, housing, food allowance, and transportation) lower their reservation wage. Respondents' willingness to accept agricultural field work increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.