Occupational licensing locks too many Americans out of the job market
By
January 5, 2018 at 07:58AM
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«Counter to what many believe, locking released individuals out of job opportunities is bad policy — it hurts returning citizens, our economy and public safety. Employment upon release is one of the key indicators in predicting whether individuals will commit another crime, and the sooner ex-offenders are employed, the less likely they will be to commit future crimes. States that consider license applications from returning citizens are demonstrably safer. In states willing to consider applications from ex-felons, the recidivism rate declined by 4.2 percent; in the 29 states where licensing boards outright reject applications from ex-felons, the recidivism rate actually rose by 9.4 percent.»