THE

SENTENCING

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Incarcerated Parents and
Their Children
Trends 1991-2007

February 2009

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This report was written by Sarah Schirmer, Ashley Nellis, and Marc
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INCARCERATED PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN | TRENDS 1991-2007

INTRODUCTION
Mass incarceration has had significant and long-lasting impacts on American society,
and particularly on communities of color. There is now a growing awareness that
parents who go to prison do not suffer the consequences alone; the children of
incarcerated parents often lose contact with their parent and visits are sometimes
rare. Children of incarcerated parents are more likely to drop out of school, engage
in delinquency, and subsequently be incarcerated themselves. 1
In 2007 there were 1.7 million children in America with a parent in prison, more
than 70% of whom were children of color. Children of incarcerated parents live in a
variety of circumstances. Some were previously in homes of two-parent families,
where the non-incarcerated parent can assume primary responsibility for the
children. Many children, especially in cases of women’s incarceration, were in singleparent homes and are then cared for by a grandparent or other relative, if not in
foster care. And in some cases, due to substance abuse and other factors, incarcerated
parents had either not lived with their children or not provided a secure environment
for them. Following release from prison both parents and children face challenges in
reuniting their families. Parents have to cope with the difficulty of finding
employment and stable housing while also reestablishing a relationship with their
children.
The increasing incarceration of women means that more mothers are being
incarcerated than ever before. There is some evidence that maternal incarceration
can be more damaging to a child than paternal incarceration, which results in more
children now suffering negative consequences. The number of incarcerated mothers
has more than doubled (122%) from 29,500 in 1991 to 65,600 in 2007. The effect

1

Dallaire, D.H. (2007). Incarcerated mothers and fathers: A Comparison of risks for children and

families. Family Relations, 56(5), 440-453.

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INCARCERATED PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN | TRENDS 1991-2007

of parents’ incarceration on children is related to a number of factors, including
whether the child was living with the parent, whether the family unit was a oneparent or two-parent household, whether the parent was the sole earner, the age of
the child, and the surrounding support network. While the effects can differ among
children, the consequences of incarceration of a parent on a child are long-lasting and
need to be considered when analyzing the ramifications of an expanding prison
population.
This briefing paper evaluates data from reports compiled by the Department of
Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics 2 citing data from 1997, 2004, and 2007. It also
includes information from and comparisons to data from 1991, where possible, to
allow analysis of trends over the last two decades.
Key Points
•
•

•
•
•

•
•

2

In 2007, 1.7 million minor children had a parent in prison, an 82% increase
since 1991.
One in 43 American children has a parent in prison, with particularly broad
racial/ethnic variation.
o One in 15 black children and 1 in 42 Latino children has a parent in
prison, compared to 1 in 111 white children.
In 2007, there were 809,800 parents incarcerated in U.S. state and federal
prisons, an increase of 79% since 1991.
In 2007, half (52%) of all incarcerated men and women were parents.
In 2004, 59% of parents in a state correctional facility and 45% of parents in
a federal correctional facility reported never having had a personal visit from
their child(ren).
Two-thirds of the incarcerated parent population is non-white.
From 1991 to 2007, the number of incarcerated mothers increased by 122%,
compared to a rise of 76% for incarcerated fathers.

Glaze, L. E. & Maruschak, L. M. (2008). Parents in prison and their minor children. U.S.

Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Special Report. NCJ 222984. Mumola, C.J. (2000).
Incarcerated parents and their children. U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Special
Report. NCJ 182335.

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INCARCERATED PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN | TRENDS 1991-2007

INCARCERATED PARENTS

Population, 1991-2007
In 2007, there were 809,800 parents incarcerated in state and federal prisons, a 79%
increase since 1991, when there were 452,500 incarcerated parents. The population
of parents is following a trend similar to that of all incarcerated individuals. While
the prison population has almost doubled since 1991, the largest increase occurred
between 1991 and 1997, with a slower rate of increase since then. Similarly, the
number of parents jumped from 452,500 in 1991 to 721,500 in 1997 (an increase of
59%), but has increased more slowly (12%) since 1997. As Table 1 shows, while the
proportion of incarcerated individuals with minor children increased slightly between
1991 and 1997, it has since decreased 11%. Nevertheless, while the proportion of
people in prison who are parents is declining, the overall numbers are still increasing
steadily.

Table 1: Change in Incarcerated Parent Population

Prison Population
Incarcerated Parent
Population
Parents as % Total
Incarcerated Population

1991
789,610

1997
1,244,554

2007
1,570,115

% Change
1991-2007
98.8%

% Change
1997-2007
26.2%

452,500

721,500

809,800

79.0%

12.2%

57.3%

58.0%

51.6%

-10.0%

-11.0%

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INCARCERATED PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN | TRENDS 1991-2007

Marital Status, 1997-2004
More than half of all incarcerated parents have never been married, an increase of
19% since 1997, and only 17% of incarcerated parents were married at the time of
their imprisonment, a decrease of 28% since 1997. The changes in marital status
could have an averse affect on the children of parents who do not have another
parent at home when one parent goes to prison. Table 2 details the change in
marital status of incarcerated parents from 1997 to 2004. Although most
incarcerated parents have never been married, many have lived with their children
prior to arrest. Among parents in federal prisons in 2004, half (48%) had lived with
their children in the month prior to their arrest.
Table 2: Marital Status of Incarcerated Parents

Never Married
Widowed/Divorced/Separated
Married

1997
46.8%
29.1%
24.1%

2004
55.9%
26.8%
17.4%

% Change
1997-2004
19.4%
-8.0%
-28.0%

Gender of Incarcerated Parents, 1991-2007
In 2007, 92% of incarcerated parents were fathers and 8% were mothers. Since
1991, the number of incarcerated fathers has increased 76% while the number of
incarcerated mothers has increased 122% (Table 3).
Table 3: Incarcerated Mothers and Fathers, 1991-2007

Fathers
Mothers
Total Number of Parents

1991
423,000
29,500
452,500

1997
667,900
53,600
721,500

2007
744,200
65,600
809,800

Change
1991 - 2007
321,200
36,100
357,300

%Change
1991-2007
76%
122%
79%

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INCARCERATED PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN | TRENDS 1991-2007

The rising number of women in prison poses particular challenges for family
stability. While the vast majority of children of male prisoners are living with their
mothers, only about a third (37%) of the children of incarcerated women are living
with their fathers. Most of these children are living with grandparents or other
relatives, while one of every nine (10.9%) women in prison has a child living in
foster care.

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INCARCERATED PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN | TRENDS 1991-2007

MINOR CHILDREN OF INCARCERATED PARENTS
In 2007, there were 1,706,600 minor children with an incarcerated parent, an 82.2%
increase over the 936,500 children in 1991 (see Table 4). In 2007, one in 43 (2.3%)
American children had a parent incarcerated in a state or federal prison.
Approximately half of children with incarcerated parents are under ten years old;
22% of children of state inmates and 16% of children of federal inmates are under
five years old. The large number of young children with an incarcerated parent
creates problems that vary depending on each family’s circumstances. In some
instances, such as a child living in a home where substance abuse was prevalent, the
incarceration of a parent may actually result in a more stable environment for the
child if a responsible relative is able to take on the child’s care. In other cases, the
child will suffer from the shame and stigma of having a parent in prison, along with
the disruption of moving to a new home environment one or more times.
Table 4: Number of Minor Children of Incarcerated Parents

Children with Incarcerated Parent

1991
936,500

% Change
1997
2007
1991 - 2007
1,498,800 1,706,600
82.2%

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INCARCERATED PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN | TRENDS 1991-2007

Racial and Ethnic Composition
In 2007, one in 15 (6.7%) black children, one in 42 (2.4%) Latino children, and one
in 111 (0.9%) white children had an incarcerated parent (see Table 5). Since 1997,
the number of white and Latino children with an incarcerated parent has increased
26% and 20% respectively, while the number of black children remained the same.
Table 5: Racial and Ethnic Characteristics of Minor Children of Incarcerated Individuals

White
Black
Latino

1997
2007
384,500 484,100
767,200 767,400
301,600 362,800

% Change
1997-2007
25.9%
0.0%
20.3%

One in
1997
2007
125
111
14
15
39
42

Contact with Parents
In 2004, more than half of parents housed in a state correctional facility had never
had a personal visit from their child(ren), and almost half of parents in a federal
facility had experienced the same. Frequency of contact between children and
parents incarcerated in federal correctional facilities has dropped substantially since
1997; monthly contact has decreased 28%, while those who report never having
contact with their children has increased 17%.

Table 6: Frequency of Contact between Children and their Incarcerated Parents

State
At least once a month
Any
22.2%
Telephone
16.5%
Mail
23.1%
Visits
13.9%
Never
Any
20.4%
Visits
56.6%

1997

2004

Federal

% Change 1997 - 2004
State
Federal

Federal

State

23.8%
23.2%
30.4%
15.1%

22.3%
15.6%
23.2%
12.5%

17.0%
17.2%
31.0%
14.7%

0.5%
-5.5%
0.4%
-10.1%

-28.6%
-25.9%
2.0%
-2.6%

7.5%
44.1%

21.4%
58.5%

8.8%
44.7%

4.9%
3.4%

17.3%
1.4%

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INCARCERATED PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN | TRENDS 1991-2007

A key factor explaining the limited contact is that incarcerated parents are generally
housed far from home. In 2004, 62% of parents in a state correctional facility and
84% of parents in a federal correctional facility were housed more than 100 miles
from their place of residence at arrest, and only 15% of parents in a state facility and
about 5% of parents in a federal facility were housed fewer than 50 miles from their
place of residence at arrest (see Table 7). This finding indicates that children of
incarcerated parents typically live too far from their parents to see them very often.

Table 7: Parents’ Distance from Home, 2004

Distance from Home
Less than 50 miles
50-100 miles
101-500 miles
More than 500 miles
Unknown

State
15.5%
20.6%
52.3%
10.0%
1.6%

Federal
4.6%
9.3%
41.2%
42.4%
2.5%

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INCARCERATED PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN | TRENDS 1991-2007

POLICY IMPACT
Public policies often exacerbate the challenges faced by incarcerated parents and their
children. For example, the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) signed by
President Clinton in 1997, authorizes the termination of parental rights when a child
has been living under foster care for 15 of the last 22 months. Because the average
prison sentence exceeds 22 months, incarcerated parents dependent on foster care for
their child’s care are at risk of losing custody. Loss of parental rights is of particular
concern to mothers in prison, who are five times as likely as men to report having
children placed in a foster home.
Moreover, the collateral consequences of a felony conviction and the obstacles to
successful reentry for parents released from prison complicate the resumption of
custody. For example, the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), welfare reform legislation passed in 1996, imposes a
lifetime ban on cash assistance and food stamps for people convicted of a drug
offense, unless a state opts out of the requirement. People denied this assistance, or
other social services like public housing or employment training, become limited in
their ability to reintegrate and maintain stable households, thus diminishing the
likelihood of regaining custody of their children.

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INCARCERATED PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN | TRENDS 1991-2007

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PUBLIC POLICY
The growing number of children with an incarcerated parent represents one of the
most significant collateral consequences of the record prison population in the U.S.
To address the issues presented by these developments policymakers should consider
a range of programmatic and policy changes to minimize the harm caused to these
children and to do so in ways that are consistent with public safety. These include:
Support Parent/Child Relationships
Corrections systems can provide programming that encourages good parenting as
well as bonding with children. The Bedford Hills, NY, women’s prison, for example,
has long maintained a program by which newborn babies can live with their mothers
in prison for a period of time. Other prison systems have developed parenting classes
to aid mothers and fathers who in many cases may lack the skills for effective childrearing.
Enhance Reentry Programming
In addition to the need to secure employment and housing upon release from prison,
incarcerated parents also face the challenge of developing a means by which to
reunite with their children. This often necessitates securing the economic resources
necessary to care for children and providing family counseling in appropriate cases.
Corrections systems and parole agencies can aid in this process through reentry
planning and providing linkages to transitional services.
Revise Ineffective Legislation
As noted above, both the Adoption and Safe Families Act and the
PRWORA legislation have impeded the prospects for successful reentry and uniting
parents with children. These policies have a particular impact on people convicted of
a drug offense and on women. The welfare and food stamp ban serves no rational
purpose and should be repealed by Congress. The AFSA legislation should be
amended to permit greater discretion in terminating parental rights for persons in
prison, consistent with the safety and well-being of children.

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INCARCERATED PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN | TRENDS 1991-2007

Reconsider Lengthy Sentencing Policies
“Tough on crime” policies adopted in recent decades are increasingly being seen as
producing overly punitive and costly results that produce severe imbalances in
promoting public safety. In regard to the needs of children with parents in prison, of
particular concern is the increasing length of prison sentences, which contribute to
further fraying of parent-child bonds. Therefore, policymakers should review
policies such as mandatory sentencing and similar measures that both fail to take into
account the impact of incarceration on children left behind and frequently impose
prison terms that are far longer than necessary for public safety concerns.

CONCLUSION
The number of children with a parent in prison has increased 82% since the early
1990s, and children now see their incarcerated parents less frequently than
previously. While the racial disparity among children with incarcerated parents has
decreased slightly, black children are still seven times more likely, and Latino
children twice as likely, as white children to have an incarcerated parent. The
proportion of incarcerated individuals who are parents has decreased slightly since
1991, but the exponential increase in the number of parents in prison is likely to
have lasting effects on families and communities, particularly in minority
neighborhoods. Scholars have found, for example, that young children “have been
observed to suffer a variety of adverse outcomes that are consistent with the research
on the effects of insecure attachments,” and that more than half of children with
incarcerated parents have had school problems such as poor grades and instances of
aggression. 3 These problems are likely to worsen as maternal incarceration continues
to rise. Awareness of the issue and its implications, along with action to reduce the
impact of incarceration on children, is necessary in order to protect and support
children when their parents are incarcerated.

3

Parke, R. and Clarke-Stewart, K.A. (2002). Effects of Parental Incarceration on Young Children.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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