Volume 51 - Article 27 | Pages 823–854  

The changing socioeconomic composition of the Finnish prison population

By Mikko Aaltonen, Joonas Pitkänen, Sasu Tyni, Pekka Martikainen

Abstract

Background: Although prison inmates are known to be disadvantaged in multiple ways, we know less about changes in the socioeconomic backgrounds of prisoners over time. We examine these changes in a period characterized by a decreasing prisoner rate, the introduction of community service, and strong macroeconomic fluctuations.

Objective: We analyze changes in the socioeconomic backgrounds of individuals imprisoned between 1988–2019. We provide comparisons with community sanctions and the non-convicted general population, and examine the same developments in subgroups of the imprisoned.

Methods: Using total population register data, we examine annual changes across different groups in the measures of employment, receipt of social assistance, income, and education.

Results: Our results show that the employment rates of individuals sent to prison declined heavily during the economic depression of the 1990s and have sunk to much lower levels since. This development is partly explained by some short-term prisoners being diverted to community service. The results are largely similar to other measures of socioeconomic status and different subgroups; the declining educational level of recidivist offenders especially stands out.

Conclusions: The Finnish prison population has grown increasingly detached from the labor market and generally more disadvantaged over time.

Contribution: We provide new evidence on changes in the socioeconomic composition of the Finnish prison population. These results are important for prison policy and rehabilitation efforts that seek to improve prisoners’ employability.

Author's Affiliation

• Mikko Aaltonen - Itä-Suomen Yliopisto (University of Eastern Finland), Finland EMAIL
• Joonas Pitkänen - Helsingin Yliopisto (University of Helsinki), Finland EMAIL
• Sasu Tyni - Helsingin Yliopisto (University of Helsinki), Finland EMAIL
• Pekka Martikainen - Helsingin Yliopisto (University of Helsinki), Finland EMAIL

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Contribution of smoking-attributable mortality to life-expectancy differences by marital status among Finnish men and women, 1971-2010
Volume 36 - Article 8

The role of smoking on mortality compression: An analysis of Finnish occupational social classes, 1971-2010
Volume 32 - Article 20

Age-specific fertility by educational level in the Finnish male cohort born 1940‒1950
Volume 31 - Article 5

The effects of socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of regions on the spatial patterns of the Second Demographic Transition in Finland
Volume 19 - Article 61

Educational differences in all-cause mortality by marital status: Evidence from Bulgaria, Finland and the United States
Volume 19 - Article 60

Increasing excess mortality among non-married elderly people in developed countries
Special Collection 2 - Article 12

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