* The rate of ever having gone to prison among adult black males(16.6%) was over twice as high as among adult Hispanic males (7.7%) and over 6 times as high as among adult white males (2.6%). * U.S. residents ages 35 to 39 in 2001 were more likely to have gone to prison (3.8%) than any other age group, up from 2.3% in 1991. * An estimated 22% of black males ages 35 to 44 in 2001 had ever been confined in State or Federal prison, compared to 10.0% of Hispanic males and 3.5% of white males in the same age group. +If incarceration rates remain unchanged, 6.6% of U.S. residents born in 2001 will go to prison at some time during their lifetime+ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- +If incarceration rates remain unchanged, 6.6% of U.S. residents born in 2001 will go to prison at some time during their lifetime+ Percent ever going to prison during lifetime, born in-- 1974 1991 2001 Total 1.9% 5.2% 6.6% Male 3.6 9.1 11.3 White 2.2 4.4 5.9 Black 13.4 29.4 32.2 Hispanic 4.0 16.3 17.2 Female 0.3% 1.1% 1.8% White 0.2 0.5 0.9 Black 1.1 3.6 5.6 Hispanic 0.4 1.5 2.2 White 1.2% 2.5% 3.4% Black 7.0 16.5 18.6 Hispanic 2.2 9.5 10.0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * About 1 in 3 black males, 1 in 6 Hispanic males, and 1 in 17 white males are expected to go to prison during their lifetime, if current incarceration rates remain unchanged. * For women, the chances of going to prison were 6 times greater in 2001 (1.8%) than in 1974 (0.3%); for men, the chances of going to prison were over 3 times greater in 2001 (11.3%) than in 1974 (3.6%). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- At yearend 2001 there were 1,319,000 adults confined in State or Federal prison and an estimated 4,299,000 living former prisoners. A total of 5,618,000 U.S. adult residents, or about 1 in every 37 U.S. adults, had ever served time in prison. Estimates of the prevalence of imprisonment in the U.S. population, presented here for the first time, are based on a demographic model incorporating rates of mortality and first incarceration in prison. Between 1974 and 2001, the prevalence of imprisonment increased by nearly 3.8 million. This included a 1.1 million increase in the number of adults in prison (up from 216,000) and a nearly 2.7 million increase in the number of living former prisoners (up from 1,603,000).