A nationwide study says more than 100,000 thousand people in the United States earn their living as day laborers.
The study said on a typical day, 117,600 people gather at more than 500 hiring sites to look for work, the New York Times reported.
Three-fourths of day laborers were illegal immigrants. More than half said employers had cheated them on wages in the previous two months.
The study found that 49 percent of day laborers were employed by homeowners and 43 percent by construction contractors. They were found to be employed most frequently as construction laborers, landscapers, painters, roofers and drywall installers, the newspaper said.
The study, based on interviews with 2,660 workers at 264 hiring sites in 20 states and the District of Columbia, found that day laborers earned a median of $10 an hour and $700 month. The study said that only a small number earned more than $15,000 a year.
© Copyright 2006 by United Press International
