3 ms·

2.4% of people are in jail? Should add that number to the unemployment figures when bragging about how good the economy is (ops, was) compared to France, German

• mike-cardwell 16y ago
  That figure sounds insanely high. Can anyone confirm it?
  • sorbus 16y ago
    It's might be low[1]: in 2007, 1 in 31 adults were in prison[2] - 3% of the population. However, that may include all the people on probation, as wikipedia gives the number in 2009 as only 1 in 136 actually being incarcerated[3], with perhaps five times that being on parole or probation (from one of the graphs, in 2008). [1] Low by American standards, at least. [2] http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=19911 http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=19911 [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_Sta...
• jat850 16y ago
  It didn't say in jail, it said 7.3 millions incarcerated or on probation or parole, which is fairly significantly different. Most recent statistic I could find (on Wikipedia, I did not drill down to their source) was about 0.75% actually incarcerated. (2.4 million people)
  • borism 16y ago
    It didn't say in jail yeah, but being on probation or parole means you're almost in jail, doesn't it?
    • anamax 16y ago
      > yeah, but being on probation or parole means you're almost in jail, doesn't it No. Note that you can end up on probation without ever being in jail.