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In February 2023, the Bureau of Justice Statistics of the U.S. Department of Justice issued a report, Employment of State and Federal Prisoners Prior to Incarceration, 2016. The information used to create this report came from the DOJ’s Survey of Prison Inmates (SPI), 2016.
PDF: Employment of State and Federal Prisoners Prior to Incarceration, 2016
The report presented key findings
- More than 6 in 10 state (61%) and federal (63%) prisoners were employed in the 30 days prior to arrest for the offense for which they were incarcerated, with about half (49% state and 54% federal) having a full-time job (figure 1).
- About a quarter of persons in state (24%) and federal (25%) prison were unemployed and not looking for work in the 30 days prior to arrest.
- Females in state (47%) and federal (55%) prison were less likely to be employed than males in state (62%) and federal (64%) prison (table 1).
- Among state prisoners, whites and Hispanics (66% each) were more likely than blacks (54%) to be employed in the 30 days prior to arrest. Among persons sentenced to serve time in federal prison, whites (64%) were more likely than blacks (54%) and American Indians or Alaska Natives (52%) and less likely than Hispanics (71%) and Asians, Native Hawaiians, or other Pacific Islanders (77%) to be employed in the 30 days prior to arrest.
- Non-U.S. citizens in state (81%) and federal (78%) prison were more likely than U.S. citizens in state (60%) and federal (58%) prison to be employed in the 30 days prior to arrest.
- Almost two-thirds of persons in state prison being held for violent (63%) offenses were employed in the 30 days prior to arrest, compared to more than half of those being held for property (57%) or drug (53%) offenses. Among persons in federal prison, 80% of those serving time for property, 67% for public-order, 60% for drug, and 58% for violent offenses were employed in the 30 days prior to arrest.
- Persons in state and federal prison (59% in each) with one or more prior incarcerations were less likely to be employed than those in state (69%) and federal (73%) prison with no prior incarcerations. More than half of state (54%) and federal (51%) prisoners whose age at first arrest was younger than 18 were employed in the 30 days prior to arrest, compared to more than two-thirds of those in state (69%) and federal (72%) prison whose age at first arrest was 18 or older.
Cite: Laura M. Maruschak and Tracy L. Snell, Employment of State and Federal Prisoners Prior to Incarceration, 2016.