82 Appendix 10: Social externalities Appendices Figure A10.6 displays the educational attainment of the incarcerated population in the U.S. Data are derived from the breakdown of the inmate population by education level in federal, state, and local prisons as provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.62 Victim costs comprise material, medical, physical, and emotional losses suffered by crime victims. Some of these costs are hidden, while others are available in various databases. Estimates of victim costs vary widely, attributable to differences in how the costs are measured. The lower end of the scale includes only tangible out-of-pocket costs, while the higher end includes intangible costs related to pain and suffering.63 Yet another measurable cost is the economic productivity of people who are incarcerated and are thus not employed. The measurable productivity cost is simply the number of additional incarcerated people, who could have been in the labor force, multiplied by the average income of their corresponding education levels. Income assistance Statistics show that as education levels increase, the number of applicants for government-funded income assistance such as welfare and unemployment benefits declines. Welfare and unemployment claimants can receive assistance from a variety of different sources, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and unemployment insurance.64 Figure A10.7 relates the breakdown of TANF recipients by education level, derived from data provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.65 As shown, the demographic characteristics of TANF recipients are weighted heavily towards the less than high school and high school categories, with a much smaller representation of individuals with greater than a high school education. Unemployment rates also decline with increasing levels of education, as illustrated in Figure A10.8. These data are provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.66 As shown, unemployment rates range from 5.4% for those with less than a high school diploma to 1.9% for those at the graduate degree level or higher. 62 U.S. Census Bureau. “Educational Characteristics of Prisoners: Data from the ACS.” 2011. 63 McCollister, Kathryn E., Michael T. French, and Hai Fang. “The Cost of Crime to Society: New Crime-Specific Estimates for Policy and Program Evaluation.” Drug and Alcohol Dependence 108, no. 1-2 (April 2010): 98-109. 64 Medicaid is not considered in this analysis because it overlaps with the medical expenses in the analyses for smoking, alcohol dependence, obesity, depression, and drug abuse. We also exclude any welfare benefits associated with disability and age. 65 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Family Assistance. “Characteristics and Financial Circumstances of TANF Recipients, Fiscal Year 2018.” 66 Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Table 7. Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population 25 years and over by educational attainment, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.” Current Population Survey, Labor Force Statistics, Household Data Annual Averages, 2019. Figure A10.6: Educational attainment of the incarcerated population High school graduate 47% Some college 7.8% Associate degree or above 3.5% Less than high school 41.7% Source: Derived from data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau 8+33+4242+4747+TEducational attainment Figure A10.7: Breakdown of TANF recipients by education level High school graduate 55.6% Greater than high school 8.8% Less than high school 35.6% Source: US. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Family Assistance 9+3636+5555+TEducation level 6% 3% 2% 1% 0% 4% 5% Figure A10.8: Unemployment by education level Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 100 + 68 + 61 + 51 + 42 + 35 Graduate degree Less than high school High school Some college Associate degree Bachelor’s degree
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTM2NjgzMA==