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Source: Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Raphael, Steven
Early Incarceration Spells and the Transition to Adulthood
Presented: New York, NY, MacArthur Foundation, Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood, "Conference on the Economics of the Transition to Adulthood", January 2006.
Also: http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~raphael/Raphael%20January%202006.pdf
Cohort(s): NLSY79
Publisher: MacArthur Foundation
Keyword(s): Crime; Incarceration/Jail; Marriage; Punishment, Criminal; Transition, Adulthood; Wages, Youth; Work Experience; Work Hours/Schedule

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This paper assesses the effects of having served time on conventional measures of the transition to adulthood. Using data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) covering the period from 1979 through 1996, I test for an empirical relationship between prior jail or prison time (measured as having been interviewed for the survey while incarcerated) and four conventional markers of adult transition: current residence with ones parents, never having been married, the proportion of the survey year employed, and hourly earnings. A simple comparison of the four measures of adulthood over time reveal large differences between youth that have ever served time and youth who have not, with those who have served time performing poorly on all measures. Moreover, in a series of panel regression models, I document strong within-person correlations between having prior prison time and each of these outcome measures. For example, a comparison of average annual weeks worked for someone that eventually goes to prison reveals a significant and sizable pre-post incarceration decline in weeks worked relative to the time path of weeks worked among those who never go. Similar patterns are observed for living with ones parents, never having been married, and hourly earnings. Restricting the sample to youth who eventually serve time (a la Western (2002)) attenuates many of these empirical estimates. Nonetheless, there are sizable estimated effects of prior incarceration on the likelihood that one has never been married and annual weeks worked, despite the stringency of the empirical test and the likely downward bias associated with measurement error.
Bibliography Citation
Raphael, Steven. "Early Incarceration Spells and the Transition to Adulthood." Presented: New York, NY, MacArthur Foundation, Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood, "Conference on the Economics of the Transition to Adulthood", January 2006.