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Mothers In Prison
- Two of every three women in prison are mothers of young children. (U.S. Department of Justice)
- Half of the 250,000 children whose mothers are incarcerated never get to visit their mother while she's away. (U.S. Department of Justice)
- Nearly half of female inmates are non-violent offenders. (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
- Incarcerated women are overwhelmingly poor. The majority of women prisoners (53 percent) and women in jail (74 percent) were unemployed prior to incarceration. (National Women's Law Center)
- Over 40 percent of women report that they were victims of abuse at least once before their incarceration. (U.S. Department of Justice)
Percentage of Inmates Reporting
Physical/Sexual Abuse Prior to Incarceration
- 47 percent of female inmates (compared to 37 percent of male inmates) had at least one immediate family member who had been incarcerated. (U.S. Department of Justice)
- Thirty-six percent of the women interviewed had been separated from at least one child during the child's first three years of life. This correlates with the common finding that women who give birth while incarcerated often have to relinquish care of their child to a relative, friend or foster parent within 24 hours of the child's birth. (National Council on Crime and Delinquency)
Children With Incarcerated Mothers
- A 1993 study found that when children were placed with caregivers during their mother's incarceration, 40 percent of the male teenagers had some involvement with the juvenile justice system; 60 percent of female teenagers were or had been pregnant; and a third of all children experienced severe school-related problems. (American Correctional Association)
- Over 60 percent of mothers in prison are incarcerated more than 100 miles from their children, making visitation difficult, financially prohibitive and often impossible. (National Council on Crime and Delinquency)
- Nationally, foster care for a prisoner's child costs between $15,000 and $20,000 per year, adding to the cost of incarcerating their caregivers. (City Limits, 1997)
- Children with inmate mothers are six times more likely than their peers to end up behind bars. (Center for Children of Incarcerated Parents)
- Since 1990, the number of children with a mother in prison has nearly doubled. (U.S. Dept of Justice Bureau of Justice statistics)
Distance of Children's Residence to Mother's Prison
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