- Employment rates for young, poorly educated African-American women increased dramatically in the 1990's, while the figures for their male counterparts continued to decline.
- The three percent increase in incarceration in the two decades had the effect of decreasing employment of young black men by two to four percentage points.
- The effect of increased enforcement of child support was about a four percent rise in labor force activity among black men from ages 25-34.
- States should make an effort to reduce barriers to employment faced by former prisoners; this could include lightening restrictions on the formal employment of inmates.
- States should develop child support orders that take low incomes into account, perhaps by being more open to arrearage forgiveness in certain cases.
Published by
- Urban Institute