Article: Silver, Ian A., Semenza, Daniel C., and Wooldredge, John. 2025 “The Lasting Effects of Incarcerating Juveniles in U.S. Adult Facilities: Examining the Impact on Employment and Income During Early Adulthood” British Journal of Criminology, azae094. Online First. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azae094.
1. Background (PDF and Publication)
Involvement in the criminal legal system before the age of 18 has substantive consequences for reentry and the life-course, making reintegration and continuity in the community more difficult. The level of system involvement, often, coincides with more substantive difficulties upon reentry, with youth reentering from adult facilities facing the greatest difficulties in the community. This is primarily because placement in an adult facility could expose a youth to physical abuse, sexual abuse, or neglect and, in turn, result in developmental, psychological, and social disruptions or delays. Similarly, youth incarcerated in an adult facility could be discriminated against within the employment market, as their criminal records are publicly released in most jurisdictions. This creates a stigma that could interrupt critical social processes and disrupt ones’ ability to gain meaningful employment and earn enough money to survive within the United States. Prior research has explored the association between criminal legal system involvement for youth and employment/income, illustrating negative impacts. The current study, however, addressed limitations of the prior research by focusing the analysis on a nationally representative sample and examining the effects of criminal legal system involvement on employment and income from early adulthood to adulthood (18-37). The study also examined if the effects of youth criminal legal system involvement were different for Black and White youth.
2. Summary of Findings
The results of the current study suggested that incarceration in adult facilities before the age of 18 resulted in decreases in average weeks worked from 18-37 and average income from 18-36. Moreover, youth incarceration in an adult facility was associated with an increase in the number of years until employment and number of years until earning federal minimum wage ($15,080). Being arrested before the age of 18 and being incarcerated in a juvenile facility before 18 appeared to have effects on the dependent variables in the same direction, but the magnitude of the effects was smaller than youth incarceration in adult facilities before 18.
Overall, the findings suggested that incarceration in adult facilities before the age of 18 resulted in:
- A 6-week reduction in average weeks worked from 18-37 years of age in comparison to youth without criminal legal system involvement. If an individual without criminal legal system involvement before 18 worked 10 weeks on average from 18-37, a youth incarcerated in an adult facility would work 4 weeks on average from 18-37.
- A .50 reduction in the log of average income from 18-36 years of age in comparison to youth without criminal legal system involvement. If an individual without criminal legal system involvement before 18 earned $100,000 on average from 18-36, a youth incarcerated in an adult facility would earn $60,475 on average from 18-36.
- A 12 percent increase in the number of years until employment in comparison to youth without criminal legal system involvement. If an individual without criminal legal system involvement became employed 10 years after their 18th birthday, a youth incarcerated in an adult facility would become employed 11 years after their 18th birthday.
- A 65 percent increase in the number of years until earning federal minimum wage ($15,080) in comparison to youth without criminal legal system involvement. If an individual without criminal legal system involvement earned federal minimum wage 10 years after their 18th birthday, a youth incarcerated in an adult facility would earn federal minimum wage 16 years after their 18th birthday.
The results further suggested that involvement in the criminal legal system before 18 could contribute to the employment and economic disparities observed between Black and White individuals. For example, incarceration in an adult facility before 18 had stronger effects on the employment and income outcomes for formerly confined Black youths than formerly confined White youths. Similarly, being arrested before 18 appeared to have stronger effects on the employment and income outcomes for Black youths than White youths. Being incarcerated in a juvenile facility, however, appeared to have inconsistent effects.
3. Implications:
The findings underscore that juvenile incarceration in adult facilities could be a negative life-course turning point with a meaningful impact on an individual’s ability to gain employment and earn a livable wage in the United States. These results support ongoing efforts to minimize the prosecution and incarceration of youth in the adult system and, moreover, reduce the likelihood of youth arrest or confinement in the juvenile system for minor delinquency events. Furthermore, the results highlight the importance of access to education and employment training during and after confinement, as these programs could help enhance the likelihood of an individual gaining meaningful employment during reentry. Similarly, reentry support, training, and networking events could help formerly incarcerated youth gain the skills and relationships needed to be competitive within the job market. Finally, employers could be financially or ethically encouraged to provide employment to formerly incarcerated youth and, further address the gap in employment opportunities for these individuals upon reentry.
4. Data and Methods
Data were drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-1997 (NLSY97), a nationally representative panel survey that followed nearly 9,000 individuals from adolescence into adulthood. The analytical sample excluded respondents that turned 18 before 1997 to ensure temporal order between the key covariates and outcomes, resulting in a final analytical sample of 8,961.
The study examined four outcomes: (1) average weeks worked per year (ages 18–37), (2) average income (ages 18–36), (3) time until employment, and (4) time until earning federal minimum wage ($15,080). The primary independent variable identified if a respondent had been incarcerated in an adult jail or prison before age 18. Key covariates included arrested before 18, incarcerated in juvenile facilities before 18, average weeks worked from 12-17, and average income from 12-17. Additional covariates adjusted for demographics, parental background, education, and peer influences. Missing information on income and the covariates were addressed by conducting a missing case analysis and employing random forest multiple imputation.
The analyses utilized linear regression for continuous outcomes and parametric survival models (log-logistic) for time-to-event measures. Models were replicated within Black and White subsamples to assess differences in the effects of incarceration in an adult institution before 18 between these racial groups.
Disclosure: This research brief was prepared by ChatGPT and reviewed/edited by Ian A. Silver.
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