Center for American Progress

Give Women a Second Chance—Our Economy Depends on It
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Give Women a Second Chance—Our Economy Depends on It

Akua Amaning and Sheena Meade write about how second chance policies can help lift millions of women out of poverty.

April marks Second Chance Month, an opportunity to raise awareness of the barriers that many justice-impacted individuals face when reentering society and to highlight policy solutions that could ensure returning citizens have a fair opportunity to reach their full potential. It also marks two full years into the COVID-19 pandemic, which, despite some gains, has disproportionately forced 864,000 women out of the workforce. For justice-impacted women—especially Black women—this “shecession” has only exacerbated the permanent recession that millions of women and families impacted by criminal records were already facing pre-pandemic.

Nearly 1 in 2 children in the United States has a parent with a criminal record. Every year, the stigma of a criminal record denies millions of families access to fundamental resources that can mean the difference between charting a path toward future prosperity and being stuck in a cycle of poverty and recidivism.

The above excerpt was originally published in Newsweek. Click here to view the full article.

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