Policy Brief
Parents in Prison
This fact sheet provides key facts on parents in prison and policies that impede their ability to care for their children when released from prison.
Related to: Collateral Consequences, Incarceration
Overview
This fact sheet provides key facts on parents in prison and policies that impede their ability to care for their children when released from prison.
- In 2016, 47% of people in state prisons and 57% in federal prisons were parents of minor children.
- Most parents in prison are fathers (626,800 fathers compared to 57,700 mothers).
- The number of fathers in prison increased 48% and the number of mothers in prison increased 96% between 1991 and 2016.