Measuring the Intergenerational Effects of Incarceration

Many children have parents who serve prison time. Various theories suggest either positive or negative intergenerational effect of incarceration, making this an empirical question. A large correlational literature generally finds negative criminal, behavioral, academic, and health effects for the child. These results are unlikely to capture causal effects due to correlated unobservables. An emerging literature using panel data and quasi-experimental methods finds mixed results, with some evidence that parental incarceration is actually beneficial for a child. Additional rigorous and compelling causal evidence is required to fully measure the intergenerational effects of incarceration.