Sugar growers in southern Florida annually recruit eight to ten thousand cane cutters from the small-farmer population of five English-speaking Caribbean islands. The results of a 1981 survey of 302 workers show that the average cane cutter earns about $4000 a season. Workers remitted a total of $19 million through a mandatory savings plan, voluntary money orders, goods in kind, and cash in hand. Workers use their earnings mainly for consumption rather than investment purposes. While participation in the programme contributes to individual welfare, finds no evidence that seasonal stateside employment expands agricultural output, or enhances the productive capacity of small farmers in the Caribbean. -Authors

[No Keywords available]

Migrant Workers Americas economics population Migrants demography developing country Population Dynamics Research Report Developing Countries Agriculture Developed Countries policy Central America financial management Temporary Migration United States Florida North America rural development economic development productivity health care manpower Health Manpower Western Hemisphere Caribbean Region Caribbean Article Efficiency social planning migration international migration developed country Demographic Factors Emigration and Immigration Economic Factors Agricultural Development Transients and Migrants Financial Activities Northern America Human Resources employment Labor Force