Racial Differences in Post - Prison Employment

This paper explores the determinants of post-prison employment among a sample of ex-offenders released from Maryland prisons. A reduced-form equation for average weekly hours worked in the first year after release was estimated for blacks and whites. The following results emerge. Background variables have strong effects on employment. In particular, race has a consistently strong impact on labor market success. Blacks are found to work fewer hours than whites. However, background variables including one capturing .criminal behavior among relatives explain little of the variation in black hours worked, although they are a significant determinant of white hours worked. Criminal history generally has little explanatory power for the employment experiences of either blacks or whites, yet pre-prison employment experience does exert such an effect. Additional month~ of work experience before incarceration raise employment for both blacks and whites after prison, although more so for whites than for blacks. For blacks, the dominating factor influencing employment immediately following release from prison is whether a job was arranged. Regarding what happens after release from prison, experiences before prison mean practically nothing. Post-prison ?utcomes (average hours worked first six months) significantly affect black ex-offenders' employment success, even above and beyond any possible effect pre-prison disadvantage may have. lfuite ex-offenders, on the other hand, are molded by their background: virtually nothing after prison release seriously alters their previously established pattern of employment experience. Racial Differences in Post-Prison Employment