Hardships of having a loved one in prison and how it affects the family’s economic stability
When a loved one is incarcerated it can create hardships to the family; especially if the loved one is the bread-winner of the family. Not only is an additional income lost, but there are additional costs such as collect phone calls which affect the families economic stability. There are also extra costs required to travel to visit your loved one in prison and, when possible putting money on their account. This article discusses that having a loved one in prison makes economic stability nearly impossible, making it difficult for a family to make ends meet. It also discusses how a family can stay together and support each other during these difficult times.
With an incarcerated husband, each of Shamika Wilson-Johnson’s expenses is deliberate.
A 35-year-old, full-time student who gets support from her family, Wilson is constantly counting pennies and wondering whether she should spend the last $20 in her purse on food or on clothing for her two children or, as she often does, to reload more phone minutes to her husband’s prison account.
What the family lives on while husband is in prison
Her small family lives on about $500 a month — $300 of that for rent — and at times has had to live in homeless shelters.
“Economically, we struggle,” Wilson-Johnson said.
And Wilson-Johnson’s plight, it seems, is far from unique.
Nearly two in three families (65 percent) with an incarcerated member are unable to meet their family’s basic needs, according to a new report released today — which found that even after a family member is released from prison, the lingering impact incarceration is often economically crippling, not only for former inmates but also for their families.
NOTE: The Link to “a new report” above is no longer working. Here’s a link to a report published in May 2016 by Human Impact Partners: The Long Road Home: Decreasing Barriers to Public Housing for People with Criminal Records, Authored By Afomeia Tesfai and Kim Gilhuly
Finding employment and housing once released from prison
The article continues to discuss the difficulty of finding employment and housing once someone is released from prison.
Read the entire article in the Washington Post.
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