By Stephen Bronars and Coleman Bazelon
Many of us borrow our understanding of prison labor from pop culture. Think Shawshank Redemption, men tarring roofs paid in cigarettes and beers. But, as we recently learned, the truth is very different.
We are seasoned economists, one of us with a deep expertise in labor economics. Last year, we were approached to do a cost-benefit analysis of paying incarcerated workers fair wages — a policy neither of us had ever considered. The ask came from Worth Rises, a non-profit advocating to end the exception in the 13th Amendment that still allows slavery as criminal punishment. While we had seen recent coverage of the issue as states have begun to pass constitutional amendments to that end and Congress considers the same, we did not think the exception could have that significant of an impact today.
We were wrong.
We took the project and quickly realized that 159 years later, the exception still affects millions of people behind bars across the country. Every year, roughly 800,000 incarcerated people, disproportionately Black and brown, are forced to work for pennies an hour or no pay at all. If they refuse, they are threatened with additional punishment, such as the denial of parole, solitary confinement, and the loss of family visits.
Consulting with criminal justice experts and people impacted by incarceration, we sought to understand how ending slavery in prisons and paying incarcerated workers fair wages would impact the lives of incarcerated workers, their families, crime victims, and society at large. What would it cost us and what would it bring us?
We don’t mean to dismiss the obvious moral argument. But, as economists who analyze public policy, we are keenly aware that financial implications matter, even when the moral case is clear. In June 2022, for instance, the California Senate rejected proposed amendments to their state constitution after learning it would cost an estimated $1.5 billion a year to pay incarcerated workers minimum wage.
On the anniversary of the passage of the 13th Amendment, just last month, we released the results of our study, which clearly show that the benefits of this policy far outstrip the costs.
To state the obvious, it would dramatically increase wages paid to incarcerated workers above the average hourly wage of $0.14 today — to the tune of $11.6 to $18.8 billion annually. With some costs covered by private sector business, federal and state governments would assume costs between $8.5 and $14.5 billion annually in additional wages and payroll costs. Costs of this magnitude — ultimately borne by taxpayers — can create concern, but costs are also only one side of the equation. We found that every dollar spent paying incarcerated workers fair wages would return between $2.40 and $3.16 to the workers, their families, crime victims, and taxpayers.
There’s a common misconception that prison is a free ride with everything provided. But the reality is very different: prisons are a place of scarcity. Meager meals and inadequate allocations of basic hygiene products must be supplemented with costly purchases from prison commissaries. Calls home come at egregious rates and fall out of reach for many. A copay for a doctor’s visit can run a tab that takes days, or even weeks, to pay off.
Given prison wages, or the lack thereof, it’s families that ultimately bear these costs. And many go into debt to do so, hindering their financial stability and economic mobility — sometimes for generations.
Earning fair wages would allow incarcerated workers to meet their own basic needs and relieve their families of this burden. It would allow them to make child support payments and even provide supplemental income to their families. They would go from creating expenses to generating income for those they left behind, most importantly, their young children.
And it’s not just the families and children of incarcerated people who miss out on important financial support, but also crime victims. No one can pay $10,000 in restitution in a timely manner making $0.08 an hour — in fact, working full-time, it would take over 60 years. With fair wages, incarcerated people could afford their own basic needs, support their families and children, and repay their victims.
But one of the biggest benefits, at least as far as money goes, accrues to taxpayers. Paying incarcerated workers fair wages would incentivize employers to offer meaningful jobs that convey valuable skills. This would produce billions in additional federal, state, and local taxes not just while they are incarcerated, but after release as they secure better employment. Along with the ability to save for release, it would also reduce recidivism among formerly incarcerated workers and the associated crime and incarceration costs.
All in, we estimate that ending slavery in prisons and paying incarcerated workers fair wages would result in a net economic benefit of $18.3 to $20.3 billion annually, once costs are deducted. And this is a conservative estimate. As economists, we need numbers to do math, but not all the benefits that such a policy change would generate are quantifiable or currently have supporting economic data. Consider the improved mental and physical health of incarcerated people that would stem from the basic recognition of their humanity — it has real value.
Ending slavery in prisons and paying incarcerated workers fair wages is an investment that would pay future dividends. In fact, the longer we delay this policy, the longer we deprive incarcerated people of a rehabilitative pathway, families and children of economic stability, victims of restitution, and society of safety and growth. The economic case for ending the exception in the 13th Amendment is clear, and just as compelling as the moral one.
Stephen Bronars is a partner at Edgeworth Economics and Coleman Bazelon is with Public Interest Experts and a principal at The Brattle Group.