Incarcerated Parents

Demographic Profile

More than half of those incarcerated in state and federal prisons have children. According to a 2000 Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) special report, “Incarcerated Parents and their Children,” nearly two-thirds of women incarcerated in state prisons were mothers to minor children; more than half of all men incarcerated in state prisons were fathers. At the federal level, similar percentages of women and men were parents—approximately six in ten. About half of all incarcerated parents in state prisons were Black, 29% White, and 19% Latino. In federal prisons, Blacks and Latinos made up nearly three-quarters of the parents; 22% were White.

Most (about 60%) parents in both state and federal prisons were less than 35 years old. Most parents in state (70%) and federal (55%) prisons did not have high school diplomas. About half of parents in state prisons had never married; parents, however, were much more likely to have been married than were inmates without children. Incarcerated parents have young children—more than one-fifth were younger than age 5.

Many incarcerated parents lived with their children at the time of their offense. For fathers in state prisons, the children's mothers provide care (in 90% of the cases). However, for the increasing number of mothers being incarcerated, only 28% report that their children go to live with their fathers. Maternal grandmothers (53%), followed by other relatives (26%), are the most likely to become primary caregivers for children with incarcerated mothers. Still, approximately 8% to 10% of children of incarcerated mothers and 2% to 5% of children of incarcerated fathers enter the foster care system. Many parents' ties to their children will be severed forever while they are incarcerated.