Dealing with "The New Scarlet Letter":

What Research Tells Us about

Negotiating the U.S. Labor Market with

a Criminal Record

Webinar

2014 NNSP Virtual Conference

December 5, 2014

Jim Torrens Program Manager

National Network of Sector Partners (NNSP)

Insight Center for Community Economic Development

jtorrens@insightcced.org

Steven Raphael Professor of Public Policy

UC Berkeley

Related webinar later today

Friday, December 5

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Pacific

Improving Employment Outcomes for People with Criminal Records –

Lessons from Per Scholas and New Century Careers

For more details about these and other webinars in the virtual conference, visit

http://www.nnsp.org/nnsp-virtual-conference.html.

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#NNSPVC

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Steven Raphael Professor of Public Policy

UC Berkeley

THE NEW SCARLET LETTER:

NEGOTIATING THE U.S. LABOR

MARKET WITH A CRIMINAL

RECORD

Steven Raphael

Goldman School of Public Policy

University of California, Berkeley

Figure 2.1: Comparison of the Total U.S. Incarceration Rate to Those of Other Nations (Data for Various Years from 2008 through 2011)

Source: International Centre for Prison Studies, World Prison Brief 2011.

743

104 9774

59

10285

101 99 111139

94116

159

78

152

117

200

133

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Inca

rce

rate

d p

er

10

0,0

00

The Number of State and Federal Prisoners per 100,000 U.S.

Residents: 1925 through 2011

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

Pri

so

ne

rs p

er

10

0,0

00

Why are so many Americans in prison?

• We’re more likely to punish convicted felons with prison than we

were in the past (especially for drug crimes)

• Those we send to prison now serve more time (especially for

violent crime).

• BOTTOM LINE: Policy, Policy, Policy

Characteristics of the labor market for former inmates

and those with criminal histories: The supply side

• What goes to prison?

• Who is currently in prison?

• Who is released from prison?

Characteristics of the labor market for former inmates

and those with criminal histories: The demand side

• Which employers are willing to hire?

• How often do employers check criminal history records

and how?

• Do employer preferences and screening practices impact

the employment outcomes of former prison inmates?

Table 4

Frequency With Which Employers Check the Criminal Backgrounds of Job Applicants for

Non-Managerial, Non-Professional Jobs

Always Sometimes Never

All Establishments

0.598 0.122 0.280

By stated

acceptability of

applicants with

criminal records

Definitely accept 0.333 0.072 0.595

Probably accept 0.576 0.141 0.283

Probably not accept 0.504 0.157 0.339

Definitely not accept

0.702 0.063 0.235

By whether they are

legally prohibit from

hiring a convicted

felon into the position

Felons prohibited 0.854 0.066 0.080

Felons permitted 0.522 0.132 0.347

Methods Used to Acquire Information on Applicant Criminal History Records Among

Establishments that Check

0.112

0.049

0.778

0.165

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Ask applicant Query the state Attorney General Background check through a

security firm

Other method

Pro

po

rtio

n o

f E

sta

bli

sh

men

ts

Firms that are unwilling to hire convicted

felons…

• Are concentrated in retail trade

• Are more likely to be hiring into jobs requiring

customer contact

• Are less likely to be planning to expand, more

likely to be planning to contract

• Hire more educated workers

• Are less likely to hire black applicants (black men

in particular)

• Pay more ($13.79 vs. $13.03)

Employers that check criminal backgrounds …

• Larger

• Relatively concentrated in manufacturing, health

services, and other services

• More likely to hire women and African-Americans

• Pay more ($14.41 vs. $12.05)

Employers prohibited from hiring convicted

felons …

• Are concentrated in health services and other services

• Are under-represented in retail trade, construction, and

manufacturing

• Are more likely to hire women and African-Americans

• Pay more ($14.73 vs. $13,43)

Effect of employers preferences and screening on

employment outcomes of former inmates

• Audit studies

• Econometric studies comparing earnings and employment

trajectories

• Using large panel data set

• Using administrative records

• Involvement with the justice system and the timing of

employment and earnings declines

Policy Options

• Effectiveness of workforce development efforts

• Job search assistance, skills remediation, cognitive behavioral

therapy, transitional jobs

• Scaling back the use of incarceration

• Better triaging of the reentry population (using labor

market intermediaries as a screening and signaling

mechanism)

• Sharing the risk with employers

CC photo credit: Colin_K

Related webinar later today

Friday, December 5

11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Pacific

Improving Employment Outcomes for People with Criminal Records –

Lessons from Per Scholas and New Century Careers

For more details about these and other webinars in the virtual conference, visit

http://www.nnsp.org/nnsp-virtual-conference.html.

Join us immediately after the webinar for online discussion and

networking about apprenticeship and sector initiatives.

To participate, search for the NNSP group in LinkedIn or visit

http://www.nnsp.org/nnsp-vconf-networking.html for more information.

After the

webinar….

Thank you!

Jim Torrens Program Manager

National Network of Sector Partners (NNSP)

Insight Center for Community Economic Development

jtorrens@insightcced.org

CC photo credit: psd