Parents in prison

Half of imprisoned people in the United States are parents of minor children who are under age 18: 47% in state prisons and 57% in federal prisons.1 Most imprisoned parents of minor children are fathers (626,800 fathers, compared to 57,700 mothers). But a higher proportion of imprisoned women (58%) than imprisoned men (47%) have minor children. Between 1991 and 2016, the latest year for which national data is available, the number of fathers in prison increased 48% and the number of mothers increased 96%  Full report