全球智库信息集成服务系统

Key Findings

In our experiment, 59 out of 100 employers filling an entry-level job would consider hiring someone who has one nonviolent felony conviction with the incentive of the baseline tax credit.

• Adding a post-conviction certificate verifying work performance history increases that number by 37 percent, to 81 out of 100 employers.
• Increasing the baseline tax credit to 40 percent of a worker’s wage (up to $5,000) increases that number by 30 percent, to 77 out of 100 employers.

With a baseline staffing agency discount fee program, 43 out of 100 employers filling an entry-level position would consider hiring someone who has one nonviolent felony conviction.

• Adding a guaranteed replacement worker program increases that number by 69 percent, to 73 out of 100 employers.
• Doubling the baseline staffing agency fee discount increases that number by 39 percent, to 60 out of 100 employers.

An estimated 64.6 million Americans (25 percent of the population) have a criminal record; of those, 19.8 million have at least one felony criminal conviction. Evidence indicates that ex-offenders have substantially lower probabilities of being hired than members of other disadvantaged groups — such as welfare recipients, high school dropouts, unemployed people, and those with "spotty" work histories — who do not have a criminal record. When ex-offenders experience poor economic outcomes, they are more likely to engage in criminal activity, which further affects their job and earnings growth and the standard of living for their families, friends, and wider community.