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Rural studies scholars have highlighted the important role farm households play in propping up the farm business along the life course. Yet, little is known about how challenges facing farm households impact the farm business and how social safety nets may interact with household and business development trajectories. We use the example of US farm households' access to health insurance and health care to develop empirical insights into these research gaps. We draw on a life course conceptual framework integrating the European and US literature and conduct bivariate analysis using age categories as the dependent variable on a primary dataset of 1,114 surveyed farm families. Difficulties meeting health care needs affected respondents at any age. Variations in trade‐offs between consumption, savings and investments as farm households make health‐related decisions hint at compounding effects over the life course on farm structure and transition timing. With biggest differences between households under and over 65 years of age (the threshold for universal public coverage), our findings highlight the importance of considering how social policies shape farm families' (in) ability to meet their social needs and the connections to farm persistence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers and farm workers have been deemed essential workers across the world. Yet, despite working in one of the most dangerous occupations, and despite being especially vulnerable to the virus (due to existing health risk factors and risk of infection stemming from difficulties adopting control measures), many farmers and farm workers in the United States have long lacked essential resources to ensure they can meet their health needs: affordable and accessible health insurance and health care. In this commentary, we draw on our own research focused on farm families and collective experiences to discuss three main challenges farm families have faced meeting their health needs: reliance on off-farm work for health insurance coverage, the need to forecast income when purchasing a plan on the health insurance marketplace, and barriers to health care in rural areas. As we discuss these challenges, we highlight the ways in which the COVID-19 pandemic is likely exacerbating these pressures. Recognizing that major crises in the past have led to major shifts in economic, social, and political systems, the disruptions brought on by COVID-19 could be leveraged to work toward increasing access to affordable and adequate health insurance and health care. As such, we conclude our commentary by outlining policy reforms and research efforts that are needed to ensure that those working in the farm sector have access to essential resources to preserve their health and safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]