Rucks-Ahidiana Zawadi, Harding David J, Harris Heather M
University at Albany, SUNY.
University of California at Berkeley.
Soc Probl. 2020 Jun 3;68(2):438-489. doi: 10.1093/socpro/spaa018. eCollection 2021 May.
Research on racial disparities in post-prison employment has primarily focused on the differential effects of stigma on blacks and whites, but we otherwise know little about racial differences. This paper examines racial differences in post-prison employment by industry and geography. We find that the formerly incarcerated are most likely to find work in a small number of "felon-friendly" industries with formerly incarcerated whites having higher employment rates than blacks. Whites are more likely to be employed in felon-friendly industries associated with the primary labor market, particularly construction and manufacturing, which have higher wages and more job stability. To explain these racial differences, we investigate the degree to which employment among the formerly incarcerated is related to where felon-friendly employers are located and where individuals who work in felon-friendly industries live. We find that post-prison employment is associated more with proximity to workers in felon-friendly industries than with proximity to employers. Because formerly incarcerated whites are more likely to live near current workers in felon-friendly industries, the geography of opportunity in the post-prison labor market contributes to the racial disparity in post-prison employment.
关于出狱后就业方面的种族差异研究主要聚焦于污名对黑人和白人的不同影响，但除此之外，我们对种族差异知之甚少。本文考察了按行业和地域划分的出狱后就业方面的种族差异。我们发现，曾经入狱者最有可能在少数几个“对有犯罪记录者友好”的行业找到工作，其中曾经入狱的白人就业率高于黑人。白人更有可能受雇于与主要劳动力市场相关的对有犯罪记录者友好的行业，特别是建筑和制造业，这些行业工资更高且工作稳定性更强。为了解释这些种族差异，我们调查了曾经入狱者的就业与对有犯罪记录者友好的雇主所在地以及在对有犯罪记录者友好的行业工作的个人居住地之间的关联程度。我们发现，出狱后的就业与靠近对有犯罪记录者友好的行业的工人的关联度，要高于与靠近雇主的关联度。由于曾经入狱的白人更有可能居住在对有犯罪记录者友好的行业的现有工人附近，出狱后劳动力市场的机会地域分布导致了出狱后就业方面的种族差异。
