As an organization focused on ending poverty in our state, Empower Missouri is deeply aware of the individual costs of a criminal record. Limited housing, employment, and education options can leave a person with a lifetime struggling to overcome a past mistake, long after they have served their time. But in Missouri alone, there are 1.8 million adults with some form of an old criminal record, and in the United States, 79 million. With so many of our friends, family, and neighbors impacted, the collateral consequences of a criminal record reach much farther than the individuals affected. Roughly 518,000 of Missourians with an old criminal record are eligible to have those records expunged, and it’s time for our state to ease the expensive and time-intensive barriers by automating the process.
A Criminal Record Should Not Equal a Lifetime of Poverty
When 90 percent of employers use background checks to screen applicants, it is no surprise that the unemployment rate among formerly incarcerated individuals is over 27 percent — higher than the total U.S. unemployment rate during any historical period (including the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Great Depression), and significantly higher than Missouri’s overall unemployment rate of 3.7 percent.
Many who are employed are underemployed, and many justice-involved individuals will experience wage disparity throughout their working years. A person with a felony conviction, even one that did not result in incarceration, can see their earnings reduced by 21.7 percent, while those who have been incarcerated can see a loss of over 50%. Even a misdemeanor conviction can come with a 16 percent wage reduction, and annual economic loss of $240 billion for the United States.
All of these numbers add up to an overwhelming number of Missourians who will struggle to meet their basic needs because of an old criminal record. Individuals and families that will face economic instability, greater risk of homelessness, and food insecurity.
Poverty is a Community Problem
Individuals with a past criminal record and their families play a large part in the nearly thirteen percent of people in the United States and twelve percent of Missourians living below the federal poverty line — a measure that is far too low to adequately represent the number who are struggling to afford food, shelter, and other basic needs. Living in poverty comes with a myriad of detrimental effects to the individual, but our high poverty rate also comes at a great cost to us all:
- Public assistance programs spend $153 billion a year as a direct result of low wages.
- Altogether, the federal government spends more than $1.1 trillion a year on 134 welfare programs. State and local governments add about $744 billion more.
- According to federal studies, the public spends between $30,000 and $50,000 per person experiencing homelessness annually.
Much of these costs are for important programs like SNAP, TANF, and other safety net programs, which are essential to ensuring that Missourians can meet their basic needs. However, automatic record clearing can strengthen economic opportunity and lead to less need for these programs, saving tax dollars and increasing prosperity. Moreover, the direct dollars spent on these safety net programs are not the only societal cost of poverty:
- Child poverty costs more than $1 trillion per year in lost economic productivity, increased health and crime costs, and increased costs resulting from child homelessness and maltreatment.
- Hunger costs $160 billion per year in increased health care costs and another $18.8 billion to poor educational outcomes.
- People experiencing poverty are at a higher risk for chronic disease, higher mortality and lower life expectancy.
- Mass incarceration costs $179 billion per year for policing, courts and private operations and another $78-87 billion in lost job opportunities after being incarcerated.
- For a formerly incarcerated individual, unemployment increases the risk of recidivism.
The Way Forward
The long-term costs of maintaining old criminal records are clear, but there is a solution: Clean Slate legislation to automate the record clearing process would provide relief for over half a million Missourians. Two bills, SB 19 and HB 953 are currently working their way through the Missouri legislature. It is long past time for this legislation to pass and give all Missourians a chance to benefit from a Clean Slate.
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