Table 5.
Cumulative Risk of Paternal and Maternal Imprisonment by Exact Age Using Real and Synthetic Cohorts for Black and White Children, by Parental Education
| Cumulative Risk | Birth Cohort |
Period |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born in 1978 | Born in 1990 | 1979 Rate | 1986 Rate | 1991 Rate | 1997 Rate | |
| Paternal Imprisonment (%) | ||||||
| White children | ||||||
| All non-college-educated | 2.9 | 5.6 | 1.9 | 2.9 | 4.2 | 4.6 |
| High school dropout | 4.1 | 7.2 | 2.9 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 5.9 |
| High school only | 2.0 | 4.8 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 3.7 | 4.2 |
| Some college | 1.4 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 1.4 |
| Black children | ||||||
| All non-college-educated | 15.6 | 30.2 | 9.3 | 16.4 | 29.8 | 26.8 |
| High school dropout | 22.0 | 50.5 | 12.9 | 23.9 | 40.1 | 43.1 |
| High school only | 10.2 | 20.4 | 5.9 | 8.4 | 22.5 | 19.0 |
| Some college | 7.3 | 13.4 | 5.7 | 8.3 | 16.6 | 11.4 |
| Maternal Imprisonment (%) | ||||||
| White children | ||||||
| All non-college-educated | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| High school dropout | 0.2 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.8 |
| High school only | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Some college | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Black children | ||||||
| All non-college-educated | 1.5 | 3.6 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 4.3 |
| High school dropout | 1.9 | 5.0 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 5.9 |
| High school only | 0.9 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 3.0 |
| Some college | 1.2 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 2.0 |
Note: Real cohort figures use three surveys of inmates and one year of vital statistics data; synthetic cohort figures use one survey of inmates and 14 years of vital statistics.
Sources: Surveys of Inmates (1979–2004), National Corrections Reporting Program (1983–2002), year-end counts of prisoners (1979–2004), and Natality Detail File (1965–1997).