Over 2.3 million Americans currently sit behind bars — the highest incarceration rate in the world.
What’s behind this massive prison population and why has it tripled in the last 30 years? And what does life behind bars mean for the children and families of prisoners?
“Life Behind Bars” is the latest Poverty Fact Sheet, produced by the Morgridge Center for Public Service and the Institute for Research on Poverty. A quick read, the fact sheet puts the current US prison situation into perspective and explores the wider symptoms of such a large prison population.
Poverty Fact Sheets are designed as useful tools for students, faculty and community members alike to better understand poverty and the statistics behind being poor. The fact sheet was prepared by undergraduate intern, Neil Damron.