People with arrest or conviction records need and deserve reliable access to income through safe, good-paying, stable jobs. Unfortunately, because of the stigma of a record, many people with records struggle to find employment. This bias also perpetuates systemic racism because Black, Latinx, and Indigenous people are disproportionately penalized by the criminal legal system and are therefore more likely than other racial and ethnic groups to have records. The following research summary helps demonstrate that removing unjust barriers to employment—including through “fair chance hiring” policies—benefits individuals with records, their families, communities of color, and society more broadly.
People with arrest or conviction records need and deserve reliable access to income through safe, good-paying, stable jobs.
After the distressing experience of incarceration or other involvement with the criminal legal system, most people require a combination of family support, community assistance, and economic opportunity to rebuild their lives. Access to wages through employment is typically a prerequisite for successfully moving forward.
While having a job does not guarantee a smooth return home from incarceration—especially if that job is underpaid—unemployment makes the transition all the more difficult by exacerbating financial instability and straining critical family support.
Expanding access to good jobs for people with records is crucial to limiting the negative effects of mass criminalization and incarceration and to enhancing racial justice and equity. Fair chance hiring (including “ban the box”) policies alone will not erase the employment struggles of people with records; nevertheless, prohibiting employers from rejecting job applicants with records at the outset of hiring is a necessary step toward fairness for workers with records across the U.S. labor market.
Download the full fact sheet to read more.
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About the Author
Beth Avery
Areas of expertise:
- Criminal Records & Employment
