Incarceration and Unwed Fathers in Fragile Families

Authors

Charles E. Lewis Jr., Howard University
Irwin Garfinkel, Columbia University
Qin Gao, Columbia University

Keywords

Earnings, employment, employment probability, exoffenders, fathers, incarceration, labor market, offenders, prison, prison reentry

Abstract

Criminal justice policies have resulted in millions of Americans being incarcerated over the past three decades in systems that provide little or no rehabilitation. This study uses a new dataset-The Fragile Families Study-to document poor labor market outcomes that are associated with incarceration. We find that fathers who had been incarcerated earned 28 percent less annually thanfathers who were never incarceratedT hese previously incarceratedfa thers worked less weeks per year, less hours per week and were less likely to be working during the week prior to their interview. We also found that fathers who had been incarcerated were more likely to depend on underground employment and off-the-books earnings.

Recommended Citation

Lewis, Charles E. Jr.; Garfinkel, Irwin; and Gao, Qin (2007) "Incarceration and Unwed Fathers in Fragile Families," The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 34: Iss. 3, Article 5.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.3274
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol34/iss3/5