Prison Work-Release Programs and Incarcerated Women’s Labor Market Outcomes

• DOI: 10.1177/0032885519875009
• Author: Robert J. LaLonde,Haeil Jung
• Published date: 01 November 2019
• Date: 01 November 2019
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0032885519875009

The Prison Journal

2019, Vol. 99(5) 535 –558

© 2019 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/0032885519875009

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Article

Prison Work-Release

Programs and

Incarcerated Women’s

Labor Market Outcomes

Haeil Jung1 and Robert J. LaLonde2

Abstract

This article examines whether the work-release program in Illinois prisons

increases women’s earnings and employment. Using a large matched adminis-

trative database, we find that a longer time served in an Adult Transition

Center (ATC) increases total earnings and the probability of being employed

during the time in an ATC, for both ATC parolees and dropouts. Furthermore,

ATC parolees and dropouts with a longer stay in an ATC had sizable increases

in their earnings and employment rates after incarceration. However, the

incompletion of the ATC terms by ATC dropouts seemed to carry stigma

that reduces their post-incarceration earnings or employment rates.

Keywords

work-release program, incarcerated women, adult transition center,

earnings, employment

Introduction

Prison work-release programs have a long history in the United States. These

programs, based on the Huber Act enacted by the Wisconsin legislature in

1913, are designed to help selected prisoners who are nearing the end of their

1Korea University, Seoul, South Korea

2The University of Chicago, IL, USA

Corresponding Author:

Haeil Jung, Department of Public Administration, Korea University, 145 Anam-Ro,

Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul 02841, South Korea.

Email: hijk@korea.ac.kr

875009TPJXXX10.1177/0032885519875009The Prison JournalJung and LaLonde

research-article2019

536 The Prison Journal 99(5)

terms to transition to regular jobs in their communities (Cole & Smith, 2001).

Through such programs, inmates are prepared to return to the community in

a relatively controlled environment. While they learn how to find and keep a

job, they are required to return to prison facilities or community residential

facilities during non-working hours (Turner & Petersilia, 1996).

This study examines the labor market effects of the work-release program

called Adult Transition Centers (ATCs) in Illinois for eligible female inmates.

We focus on women in this study for three reasons. First, over the last 30

years, female incarceration rates increased rapidly, although they have slowed

somewhat recently (Belknap, Lynch, & DeHart, 2016). Between 1978 and

2008, U.S. female incarceration rates increased by nearly sevenfold from 10

to 69 per 10,000 people.1 Second, different from male incarceration, female

incarceration is more directly related to children’s well-being because the

vast majority of incarcerated women are the mothers and main caregivers of

children (Belknap et al., 2016; Glaze & Maruschak, 2010; Jiang & Winfree,

2006; Mumola, 2000). Thus, successful reentry is not only crucial to their

own well-being, but also for their children and families (LaLonde & Cho,

2008). And, finally, many studies of employment and training programs tar-

geted toward the economically disadvantaged consistently find larger and

more lasting effects for women than for their male counterparts (Friedlander,

Greenberg, & Robins, 1997; Heckman, LaLonde, & Smith, 1999; LaLonde,

1995; and LaLonde, 2003). So, it does not seem reasonable to assume that

what has been learned about the effects of these work-experience programs

for men would carry over to women.

Indeed, there have been several studies on the effectiveness of work-

release programs on the employability of former male inmates. These studies

have found that work-release programs have had modest positive impacts on

subsequent earnings and employment (Berk, 2007; Witte, 1977). But, to our

best knowledge, there have been few empirical studies that directly focused

on incarcerated women in work-release programs.2 To learn more about

women in such programs, this study uses a large longitudinal administrative

data set to examine whether the work-release program in Illinois has been

effective in raising women’s earnings and employment rates. Although we do

not have data from a social experiment, we exploit the longitudinal structure

of our data to arrive at plausible estimates of the impact of the state’s prison

work-release program on women’s labor market outcomes.

We find that regardless of whether women complete their term in an ATC

or not, the length of time serving in an ATC is related to higher earnings and

a higher probability of being employed after incarceration as well as during

the time in an ATC. We interpret this finding as being consistent with the

human capital theory of skill formation and job experience. Time in an ATC