Employment & Education
Employment and higher wages are both negatively associated with rates of recidivism (Economic Policy Institute, 2000). Employment provides income for basic needs, structures daily life, reduces the temptation to use drugs or engage in criminal activity, and diminishes the pressure to earn money through illegal means (Freudenberg, 2006). Nationally, only 66% of male and 25% of female inmates had formal income in the month prior to arrest. Of those, less than 13% earned more than $2,000 per month (US Department of Justice, 2004). When released, jail inmates face many obstacles to obtaining legitimate and stable employment, including low levels of education, limited work history, limited vocational skills, and prohibitions against hiring workers with criminal histories (Holzer, Raphael, & Stoll, 2004).
Poor education is a major obstacle to employment. Sixty percent of jail inmates in the U.S. lack a high school diploma or its equivalent, yet jails are only required to provide basic education to those less than 18 years of age (Freudenberg, 2006). Nationally, 60% of jail inmates held less than a high school diploma and only 3% held a college degree (U.S. Department of Justice, 2004).