The Eldest Daughter’s Third Shift Among Former Seasonal Farmworker Youth

Working women disproportionately experience the second shift, an additional shift of household labor. In Latine working-class families, women with limited time for a second shift depend on their children to take on this work. Scholars have referred to this as a third shift among working children in immigrant families. In these cases, eldest daughters often step up to fill care gaps for their families. I draw upon thirty-one interviews with Latine former seasonal farmworker youth to examine the unpaid labor of eldest daughters. I build upon research on the second and third shifts to highlight how the intersection of birth order, class, gender, and immigration status impacts the unequal division of labor. The eldest daughters in my study completed their first shift working in the fields, their second attending school, and their third helping with domestic labor. This study focuses on their third shift, which consisted of maintaining a household, brokering work, and multigenerational emotional work. The study highlights the critical role of the eldest daughter in financially precarious families.