A revealing new report claims that one in every two American adults has had an immediate family member incarcerated, putting the spotlight on prison reform as the Trump administration tackles the issue.
The findings by FWD.us show that more and more Americans are being put in prison than ever before. Key figures in the data:
- About half of U.S. adults, which equals roughly 113 million people, have an immediate family member who served, or is currently serving, at least one night in jail or prison. At the time the survey was conducted, 6.5 million adults had an immediate family member incarcerated.
- The jail and prison populations have increased from 350,000 in 1980 to 1.5 million in 2016.
- 64 percent of U.S. adults have had an immediate or extended family member incarcerated.
- One in four adults has had a sibling incarcerated, one in five adults has had a parent incarcerated, one in seven adults has had a spouse or co-parent incarcerated, and one in eight adults has had a child incarcerated.
- Adults with an annual household income of less than $25,000 are 61 percent more likely than households making more than $100,000 to have a family member incarcerated.
"These numbers are stunning, all the more so if you think of them not as numbers but as stories like mine," said Felicity Rose, director of Research and Policy for Criminal Justice Reform at FWD.us.
"One of the worst parts of growing up with my father in and out of prison was the isolation and shame I felt. I hope that this new research energizes reform efforts and that it can help the millions of people who have also experienced family incarceration feel a little less alone this holiday season."
The Trump administration is trying to reform the criminal justice system, a measure that would reduce mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines for certain offenses and help create programs to lower the rate of recidivism.
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