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Title: Does Incarceration Impair the Subsequent Labor Market Outcomes of Men? Evidence from the NLSY79
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Jung, Haeil |
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Does Incarceration Impair the Subsequent Labor Market Outcomes of Men? Evidence from the NLSY79 Presented: Washington, DC, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Annual Research Conference, November 5-9, 2009 Also: https://www.appam.org/conferences/fall/archives.asp Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Keyword(s): Earnings; Economic Well-Being; Incarceration/Jail; Labor Force Participation; Labor Market Outcomes; Minorities, Youth; Wage Rates; Work Hours/Schedule Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. The rapid increase in incarceration rates since the mid-1970s has given rise to a debate on how incarceration affects the economic activities of ex-prisoners. While theory suggests that the effect can be either positive or negative, most previous empirical research suggests that incarceration lowers subsequent labor market outcomes of men. Some recent research, however, shows that incarceration does not hurt the post-prison earnings and employment of men. Using data from the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), this paper tries to reconcile the conflicting evidence in the literature. Previous studies only use some labor market outcomes such as earnings, employment, or hourly wage. In order to fully understand the effect of incarceration on labor market outcomes, I investigate all three outcomes. I also show how using a valid comparison group for previously incarcerated men changes the estimated effect of incarceration. I improve the regression model by controlling for ever-incarceration status in order to compare previously incarcerated men with themselves prior to incarceration. This significantly changes the effect from negative to positive or null. Furthermore, I investigate whether the results I find change over time focusing on ever-incarcerated men. This paper finds that incarceration does not seem to hurt the marketable skills and employability of men. Post-incarceration earnings and average weekly work hours seem to reach pre-incarceration levels. Real hourly wage seems to increase after first incarceration. In addition, supporting these main findings, the marital status and family poverty rate before and after first incarceration indicate that the general well-being of men does not deteriorate after incarceration. |
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Bibliography Citation
Jung, Haeil. "Does Incarceration Impair the Subsequent Labor Market Outcomes of Men? Evidence from the NLSY79." Presented: Washington, DC, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Annual Research Conference, November 5-9, 2009. |