Russel Sage Foundation

Natural disasters have increased in frequency and intensity. In 2020, 16 weather-related disasters caused $16 billion in damages. However, the disaster-restoration labor force has received little attention. Sociologist Sergio Chavez and his colleagues will examine the experiences of migrant roofers, who are mostly immigrants, by expanding on a previous study funded by Rice University. Between spring 2020 and spring 2021, the investigators surveyed 316 U.S.-based roofers and 323 former roofers now living in Mexico. They collected data on housing, wages, remittances, physical health (e.g., pain and injury), health behaviors (e.g., drinking and sleep), and medical care use among contractors, subcontractors, crew leaders, roofers, and assistants. Preliminary findings reveal that roofing is an unstable and precarious job and that roofers frequently move across labor markets to find work and increase earnings. Roofing is hazardous with a high incidence of falls, injuries, pain, sickness, and death largely due to poor workplace conditions and inadequate training. With RSF support, the investigators will now conduct a second round of surveys with previously surveyed roofers as well as 50 in-depth interviews with a sub-sample to better understand how their earnings and job-related injuries and sickness vary across time.