Abstract

Previous research indicates that incarceration leads to declines in rates of homeownership and net worth, especially among baby boomers, but questions remain as to how other types of criminal justice system contact affect wealth outcomes during the transition to adulthood. Using data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we investigate how arrests, convictions, and incarceration influence net worth, financial assets, and debt among young adults. We find that most contact with the criminal justice system limited the ability of young adults to accumulate wealth between the ages of 25 and 30, an especially important time for building life-cycle wealth. Arrests were associated with asset and debt declines of 52–53 percent, and incarceration led to net worth and asset declines of 34 and 76 percent, respectively. These direct effects were also bolstered by the indirect effects of these variables through their relationship with marriage and earnings, especially in the case of incarceration. This study draws attention to how criminal justice system contact affects early adult wealth, thereby setting the stage to influence a host of life course dynamics for individuals and their families.

中文翻译：

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监禁，定罪和逮捕对年轻人财富结局的不同影响

摘要

先前的研究表明，监禁会导致房屋拥有率和净资产下降，特别是在婴儿潮一代中，但仍然存在其他问题，即在过渡到成年期间，其他类型的刑事司法系统如何影响财富结果。使用1997年全国青少年纵向调查的数据，我们调查了逮捕，定罪和监禁如何影响年轻人的净资产，金融资产和债务。我们发现，与刑事司法系统的大多数联系都限制了年轻人在25岁至30岁之间积累财富的能力，这是建立生命周期财富的特别重要的时期。逮捕与资产和债务下降52％至53％有关，监禁导致净资产和资产下降分别为34％和76％。这些变量通过与婚姻和收入的关系而产生的间接影响也增强了这些直接影响，尤其是在监禁的情况下。这项研究提请人们注意刑事司法系统的接触如何影响成年人的早期财富，从而为影响个人及其家庭的生活历程动态奠定基础。