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jackrabbit10 Prison labor in the U.S. generates significant economic output.[2] Incarcerated workers provide services valued at $9 billion annually and produce over $2 billion in goods.[3][4][5] Most prisoners in the U.S. are required to work,[39] and all state prison systems and the federal system have some form of penal labor.[40] Although inmates are paid for their labor in most states, they usually receive less than $1 per hour.[40]
Prisoners perform industrial work for prisons and private companies. This work involves providing services for sale to government agencies, state-owned or private sector businesses (e.g. data entry, automobile repair) and manufacturing products (e.g. automobile tags, furniture and mattresses).[8] Goods and services are sold at prices designed to cover production costs and business or prison operations.[9] Often called ‘correctional industries’, some businesses coordinate with correctional agencies to operate ‘shops,’ on which the generated revenues fund their operation.[10]
Most US inmates are assigned to maintenance rather than industry work. A US nationwide 1991 American Correctional Association survey reported that only 8% of federal and state prisoners had research and industry type jobs.[8] This distribution is a permanent feature of paid prison labour models – evidenced by a more recent 2017 figure indicating that agency-operated industries employ approximately 6% of prisoners.[10]
