Fathers in Prison

Statistics about Fathers in Prison

About 55% of male inmates in state facilities have children under the age of 18—a percentage that has not changed appreciably over the past 10 years. Out of the incarcerated fathers, approximately 30% have more than one child. Comparable statistics for federal inmates are 63% and 40%, respectively. As a result, at least 1,372,700 minor children in the United States have a father in prison. During the past decade, a rise in the incarceration rate has resulted in an increase in the number of incarcerated fathers with minor children. Because data are not kept on the number of inmate fathers with children age 18 and over, we do not know the total number of incarcerated men with adult children.

Fathers in state facilities are serving an average sentence of 94 months, and those in federal prisons an average of 124 months. The most common offenses committed by those in state prisons are violent in nature, while, in the federal system, they are more likely to have to have been convicted of drug trafficking. In terms of race/ethnicity, approximately half of the fathers in state custody are African American, a quarter are white, and some 19% are Hispanic. At the federal level, 44% are black, 30% are Hispanic, and 22% are white.

While we do not have reliable data on the number of fathers in juvenile detention nationwide, estimates suggest that between 20% and 25% of them have children. This percentage is notable given that nationwide only about 5% of men under the age of 20 are fathers. These men are disproportionately represented in juvenile prison because incarceration and young fathering are concentrated in the same impoverished communities. In addition, regardless of their backgrounds, fathers appear more likely than those without children to engage in delinquent behaviors and to go to prison. National data are not kept on the number of juvenile fathers in county and local custody.