A sociological research on the living and working conditions of seasonal agricultural worker families and their children: The case of Ünye, Ordu province

In Turkey, people who do not own land in rural areas temporarily migrate from Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia regions to Aegean, Mediterranean and Black Sea regions for the sowing, planting, hoeing and harvesting periods of different agricultural products every year in order to work. Seasonal agricultural workers are the groups that migrate to different regions and cities to work every year from the region where they live permanently. Eastern Black Sea region is one of the regions where seasonal agricultural workers migrate intensively during hazelnut harvesting in August and September. In this process, in which seasonal agricultural workers migrate, some of the children accompanying them are involved in working life as child workers, and some are affected by this migration process, as even working is forced to be involved in the migration process with their families. Therefore, seasonal agricultural workers represent a group that stands out with their disadvantaged living and working conditions, and the problems they face during the migration process and working life. This research is designed to look at the living and working conditions of seasonal agricultural workers and their children from a sociological perspective. For this purpose, the socio-demographic views of seasonal agricultural workers, general impressions of their working and accommodation areas, and how children who had to migrate with their families and were involved in the seasonal labor process were affected by this process and how they made sense of the world they live in were revealed. This research reveals the subjective experiences of seasonal agricultural workers and their children in Ünye district of Ordu province in the Eastern Black Sea Region. It evaluates the seasonal agricultural work phenomenon unique to the Ünye district of Ordu from the eyes of children and families and contributes to the relevant literature.