Conviction, Imprisonment, and Lost Earnings
summary
A quantitative Brennan Center report uses administrative data and economists to claim 7.7 million people alive today have been to prison, about 12 million have felony convictions and over 45 million have misdemeanor convictions, and incarceration cuts lifetime earnings roughly in half (about $500,000 per person). The aggregate earnings loss is driven more by the sheer number of misdemeanors than by prison alone. The analysis finds persistent, racialized earning gaps and models suggest clean‑slate/automatic expungement and probation/parole diversion as high‑impact policy levers.
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chapters (7)
- 0:00Introduction
- 2:41Employment challenges after justice involvement
- 7:33Brennan Center lost earnings report
- 22:12Jeff Abramowitz on reentry
- 35:09Collateral consequences explained
- 48:16Justice reform progress and gaps
- 1:00:08Closing reflections
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