Justice and public safety strategies to strengthen families

How do justice issues impact family well-being?

Low-income individuals who have never been incarcerated experience higher rates of upward economic mobility. ¹

Among individuals from very low-income families, individuals who have been incarcerated are twice as likely to remain in the bottom quintile of earnings in the long term than individuals who are never incarcerated.

Individuals and families who have not experienced incarceration have higher earnings. ²

While a father is incarcerated, family income is 22 percent lower on average than before the father was incarcerated. A year after a father is released, family income remains 15 percent lower than it was prior to incarceration. Individuals who have been incarcerated experience $179,000 in decreased earnings over the course of their lives, on average.

Children whose fathers have never been incarcerated are less likely to be expelled or suspended from school. ³

23 percent of children whose fathers have been incarcerated are expelled or suspended from school, compared to 4 percent of children whose fathers have not been incarcerated.

Being stopped by police negatively affects adolescents’ mental health and may increase engagement in criminal behavior. ⁴

Adolescent boys who are stopped by police report greater psychological distress and more frequent engagement in delinquent behavior 6, 12, and 18 months later, independent of prior delinquency. The younger boys are when they are first stopped, the stronger the negative effects.

As of 2010, 2.7 million children had an incarcerated parent. ⁵

Two-thirds of incarcerated parents are imprisoned for non-violent offenses.