Understanding how incarceration drives poverty and inequality

Mass incarceration is a policy choice that has long-lasting economic consequences for individuals, families, and communities. People who have been incarcerated face barriers to employment, housing, education, financial security, and economic mobility, and these challenges disproportionately impact communities of color. An analysis using 2017 survey data estimated that, on average, prior incarceration reduces lifetime earnings by 52 percent, with a far greater impact on Black people. Despite these far-reaching consequences, there had been no comprehensive national resource that tracked how incarceration and economic outcomes are connected over time and across communities in the United States.

The Vera Institute of Justice’s Incarceration and Inequality Project (IIP) is changing that. By bringing together incarceration and socioeconomic data at the county level, IIP built the first national, longitudinal dataset designed to help researchers, advocates, policymakers, journalists, and community organizers better understand how incarceration influences economic opportunity and mobility.

Resources

To make this evidence more accessible, IIP combined rigorous research with user-friendly digital tools. The project includes a publicly available research dataset, interactive data visualizations, research papers, and data stories that translate complex findings into actionable insights. Together, these resources help users explore how incarceration and economic inequality intersect.