The effect of Incarceration on unemployment, related articles and data

The Washington Post has a story: "America has locked up so many black people it has warped our sense of reality". We want to check some of WP 's facts and conclusions.  We also want to extend our analysis of the real Black unemployment rate to include incarceration statistics.

The two most important publications in corrections statistics are the following reports published by the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Correctional population in the US, 2014

Prisoners in 2014

Probation and Parolee in the US, 2014

Here is a summary of the important statistical facts in each publication.

Important Facts(2014)

6,851,000 under the supervision of adult corrections system
4,708,100 Community supervision
   3,864,100 Probation
   856,900 Parole

2,224,400 Incarcerated
   1,561,500  Federal and State
    1,350,958 State
    210,567 Federal
   744,600 Local

1,448,564 Male
112,961 Female

1,402,404 - Male Prisoners sentenced more than a year (may not match total by definition)
   453,500 White Male
   516,900 Black Male
   308,700 Hispanic Male
   123,300 Other Male

106,232 All Female prisoners sentenced more than a year (may not match total by definition)
   53,100 White female
   22,600 Black female
   17,800 Hispanic female
   12,800 Other female



Definitions:

The correctional population is the total of all people under the supervision of the corrections systm which include probation, parole and incarceration.

Prison - Sentenced offenders serving more than a year. State and Federal.

Jail - Local incarceration for pre-trial and post-trail sentences of one year or less.

Private Prisons -

Prisoners - Incarcerated people at the state and federal level.

Per 100,000 - is the bench mark for comparing the incarceration rate across different countries.

Unemployment rate for Parolees and Probation is 40 to 60%.

More facts:

National Employment Law Project estimates 65 million people have a criminal record or 28% of the adult population has a criminal record. Nation: "Boxed In: How a criminal record keeps you unemployed for life"

Center for Economic Policy and Research estimated that bias against workers with a criminal record reduced the US GDP by $57 to 64 billion in 2008.

A 2010 Pew Charitable Trust study found that incarceration reduces houry wages by 11 percent and annual wages by 40 percent.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in 2015 stated that 70 million people have a criminal record. In "Strategies for Full Employment through reform of the criminal Justice System"

82 billion was spent on jails and prison
$250 billion on courts and policing

Kaiser Family Foundation/New York Times/CBS news poll of prime working age men 25-54 who were unemployed found that 34 percent had a criminal conviction. 64% wanted to work and 45% had looked for a job.