What happens to older individuals after they leave prison?

Last year, we published two articles examining the employment outcomes of older jobseekers in North Carolina’s labor market. This year, in recognition of Reentry Month, we take a closer look at what happens to older individuals after they leave prison in North Carolina.

Older Formerly Incarcerated Jobseekers

When it comes to their employment outcomes, formerly incarcerated individuals are a lot like the population at large in that, the older they are, the less likely they are to land a new job. For example, among individuals released from a North Carolina prison in 2022, only 39% of those aged 40 or older found employment within a year after release, compared to 48% of their counterparts between age 30 and 40 and 51% of those aged 30 or younger [Figure 1].

Figure 1

We know from our research that finding employment after prison is strongly correlated with lower rates of recidivism. However, even though older individuals are less likely to find employment, they are also less likely to return to prison than their younger counterparts. Only 21% of individuals aged 40 or older returned to prison within a year after release, compared to 27% of those between age 30 and 40 and 30% of individuals aged 30 or younger [Figure 2].

Figure 2

How can we explain this apparent contradiction? It is true that for any individual, at any age, employment after prison can be an important pathway to staying out of prison. At the same time, post-release employment is far from the only factor determining a person’s likelihood of successful reentry. Middle-aged and retirement-aged individuals are, in general, less physically and socially active than younger people, and they are simultaneously less likely to engage in the workforce and less likely to engage in criminal activity than people in their 20s and 30s.

This analysis demonstrates why it is so important to drill down into the demographic differences underlying economic and criminal justice statistics. While outcome data reported at the aggregate level can tell a broad story about what’s happening across North Carolina, individuals may experience different outcomes depending on their stage of life and their place in society.

For more data on post-prison employment outcomes—including breakouts by age, sex, race, and more—check out the North Carolina Reentry Outcome Reporting System (NC-RORS):  https://analytics.nccommerce.com/NC-RORS/