Employment is an important factor in successful community reintegration after prison release and is associated with lower rates of recidivism. Formerly incarcerated people need stable jobs for the same reasons as everyone else. To support themselves and their loved ones, pursue life goals, and strengthen their communities. Employment inequality is a struggle many individuals face, especially here in Chicago.
Many young adults re-entering communities after incarceration facing institutional barriers preventing them from reaching their employment goals. In 2022, over 16,000 people have been in-prisoned in Illinois, But for the nearly 96,000 young adults ages 18 to 24 have been incarcerated in the United States. Federal, state, and local prisons, these goals are often out of reach even after release.
Employment is a major factor in successful community reintegration after prison release. Not only is it important to formerly incarcerated individuals, families, and their communities. It is also associated with lower rates of recidivism. But how many formerly incarcerated people are able to find work? Answering this fundamental question has historically been difficult, because the necessary national data weren’t available — that is, until now.
Employment Inequality Among Formerly Incarcerated People
Additionally, systems matched individual IDOC state prison data to IDES state employment information. This research was approved by the ICJIA Institutional Review Board. Of 4,430 persons who’ve been placed in prison in 2018, and we tracked their employment through 2021. Over 600,000 people make the difficult transition from prisons to the community each year. There are many challenges involved in the transition from the roadblocks to securing a job have particularly severe consequences.
Employment helps formerly incarcerated people gain economic stability after release and reduces the likelihood that they return to prison. The criminal legal policy largely treats 18 to 24 year-olds as adults. Despite the fact that they share many developmental characteristics with adolescents. Such as risk-seeking behaviors, peer pressure, and a diminished capacity to engage in self-control. We find that the unemployment rate for formerly incarcerated people is nearly five times higher than the unemployment rate for the general United States population. Substantially higher than even the worst years of the Great Depression.
Employment Inequality Between Race And Gender
In the general public, people of color tend to face higher unemployment rates than whites. While men tend to have lower unemployment rates than women. Black people are more unemployed than people of other races who are also unemployed, they also have lower wages after release. Challenges to employment following prison were greater for a Black person due to part of a lack of employment opportunities. Therefore, there is a need for investment in prisoner reentry and support services.
Earnings were lowest for Black and Native American people released from federal prison in fact, racial and ethnic disparities in earnings seemed to grow over time. These findings probably reflect an unfortunate “racialized re-entry” process for people leaving prison. White people getting out of prison actually appears to be more a disadvantaged and less employable. Due to higher rates of substance use and longer sentences, white people still ended up with better employment and income than Black and Hispanic people leaving prison.
The criminal legal system is further characterized by alarming racial disparities. For every 100,000 18 to 24 year old Black men in the United States, 1,828 were incarcerated in 2020, compared with just 218 white men of the same age. Hispanic and Native American men in this age group are similarly overrepresented in American prisons. The 8.1 percent of 18 to 24 year old’s are in state and federal prisons. Furthermore, 40 percent were Black young men and 24 percent were Hispanic young men.
From Employment Inequality To Successful Employment
There are many reasons why individuals struggle to find fulling employment
- A lack of proper identification that restricts them from accessing the public benefits, services, and work opportunities they need to stabilize their lives.
- Financial instability and a lack of access to child care, transportation, and other employment-enabling supports.
- A lack of education, training, and work experience that makes it challenging to access high-quality jobs with good pay and benefits.
- Employment and regulatory practices that block individuals with records from job opportunities and the licensures or certifications needed for employment.
These reasons are why it is important to see a reform in the way businesses conduct their hiring process.
By Desmond Jackson
Source :
prisonpolicy : New data on formerly incarcerated people’s employment reveal labor market injustices
americanprogress : Addressing Employment Barriers for Young Adults Leaving Incarceration
icjia : Employment of Individuals After Release from Illinois Prisons: Employee Characteristics, Occupations, and Wages
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