Does Incarceration Length Affect Labor Market Outcomes for Violent Offenders?
Written by: Rasmus Landersø
This paper examines how the length of a period of incarceration in prison affects offenders’ rate of unemployment, dependency on transfer payments and earnings after release. Offenders who serve prison sentences of different lengths are rarely directly comparable with each other. Differences in the labour market situations after release among people who serve sentences of different lengths may thus reflect differences among the individuals and not the effects of the lengths of their sentences. In order to avoid this difficulty, the study examined the cases of men convicted of minor crimes of violence before and after a reform which increased the punishment for this particular type of offence. This reform thus gave rise to a situation where similar individuals served sentences of different lengths for the same types of crime.
Related publications
Knowledge overview
Fewer offenders claim welfare benefits after community service and electronic tagging than after serving prison sentences
Go to knowledge overviewResearch report
Serving time or serving the community?
Go to research reportResearch report
Losing the stigma of incarceration
Go to research reportResearch report
Unemployment and crime
Go to research reportLatest releases on the same welfare topic
Research
Comment
Fewer requirements for many unemployed individuals will not lead to a significant loss of employment
November 2024
Research
Video
Conference:
Urban vs. rural areas
– Is Denmark divided?
November 2024
Research
Knowledge overview
Educational professionals’ language interventions in kindergarten led to better results in school – even in math and well-being.
November 2024
Research
Research report
When Does Grandparenthood Decrease Labor Supply? Understanding Mechanisms And The Role Of Gender And Economic Resources
November 2024