Men's Incarceration and Women's Labor Market Outcomes

Publication Year
2021

Type

Journal Article
Abstract

The prevalence of men's incarceration in the United States has important unintended consequences for women. Two early studies find positive external effects of men's incarceration on women's labor market outcomes in general. However, very little is known about the labor market outcomes of women directly affected by men's incarceration. This study evaluates how women's labor market outcomes change when a male partner is currently incarcerated. It finds substantial and robust evidence that a male partner's current incarceration lowers women's weekly earnings at extensive and intensive margins, while raising women's unemployment odds at the extensive margin. These negative consequences on women's labor market outcomes warrant further policy attention.

Journal
Feminist Economics
Volume
27
Issue
4
Pages
1-28