Locked up in America: new reports hit at costs of incarcerating women

Research shows that reducing sentences for women could save tax dollars with virtually no increase in violent crime Two new reports raise questions about the economic tradeoffs of incarcerating women – a prison population that has grown more than 600% in the United States since 1980. Imprisoning women costs as much as 75% more than incarcerating men, but some of those costs could be offset by halving the amount of time women spend in prison with minimal impacts to public safety, according to new reports from the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan thinktank. Continue reading...

Melissa Segura · Mon, Jun 29, 2026, 4:00 AM
US news | The Guardian

Locked up in America: new reports hit at costs of incarcerating women

Research shows that reducing sentences for women could save tax dollars with virtually no increase in violent crime

Two new reports raise questions about the economic tradeoffs of incarcerating women – a prison population that has grown more than 600% in the United States since 1980.

Imprisoning women costs as much as 75% more than incarcerating men, but some of those costs could be offset by halving the amount of time women spend in prison with minimal impacts to public safety, according to new reports from the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan thinktank.

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