Poor Prisoners Struggle for Basic Necessities

by Chrstopher Monihan & Sarah Beaudoin

In one state, two weeks of prison earned wages buys a box of tampons. In another nine hours of wages, you get a bar of soap.

Incarcerating people who have no financial means of support pits them against a race for survival where basic hygiene necessities remain out of reach. Prison earned wages amount to pennies earned per hour, keeping items like soap and toilet paper a constant struggle to afford.

Incarcerated people are confronted with challenges unique to the nature of the prison system. Prison canteens with sole source contracts sell food and hygiene items at inflated prices. Incarcerated people find that the wages they earn egregiously fail them in affording necessary hygiene products. Compounding this problem, a 2017 Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) survey of all 50 states found that incarcerated people earn average minimum daily wages that are less than they were in 2001.

The same PPI survey reports that the national average hourly rate paid to incarcerated people for working a regular prison job came to 14 cents per hour. In states with prison industries, which are state owned businesses, that rate rose to 33 cents per hour. However, 94% of incarcerated people do not have these jobs.

There is growing concern among the incarcerated and their families about the cost of canteen items and the disparity in the wages they earn. We speak as these incarcerated individuals ourselves. Combined, we have spent 48 years behind these walls and can attest to the disparity of self-sufficiency.

When incarcerated people are forced to ask loved ones for financial assistance for basic human needs, it is stressful and akin to punishment heaped upon loved ones. “If I can’t afford it with state pay, I have to go without,” said Jason Derracco, who is serving a three year sentence. State pay is the monthly earnings from a prison job.

In Ohio, a bar of soap costs $1.41 on canteen. This is the equivalent of 10 hours of wages earned for incarcerated people who average $20 a month. Similarly, incarcerated women in Colorado earn $6-$12 a month. A box of tampons costs $3.69 or an equivalent of 44 hours of wages based on $12 a month earnings. To put this into perspective, the state minimum wage paid to people in free world communities in Ohio is $10.45, and in Colorado is $14.42, respectively. People earning minimum wages would pay the equivalent of $104.50 for a bar of soap and $635.80 for the box of tampons. We ask, would you stand for this if you had to pay these rates? Why then is it okay for incarcerated people and their families to bear such a burden?

Shifting the financial burden of incarceration to incarcerated people and their families is part of a growing trend. According to Lauren-Eisen of the Brennan Center, some states charge room and board and medical copays in addition to extras such as phone calls.

Proponents of this practice note that if incarcerated people earn wages, then they can shoulder some of the burden of incarceration. Purchasing their own over the counter medications and hygiene products are a couple of the many ways.

Critics estimate that nearly 80% of incarcerated people are poor or in poverty, and prison wages are their primary income. The PPI survey mentioned earlier noted that average prison wages have fallen since 2001, and cited 5 states paying zero dollars to incarcerated people for regular prison jobs. By shifting financial burdens of incarceration to the incarcerated and their families only harms the poorest in an already vulnerable population.

“It sucks,” said Ashley Wirt, who is serving a 12-month sentence. “It’s hard because you can not afford all of the hygiene. I don’t have anyone out there to help me with my basic necessities.”

We found that when incarcerated people can not afford necessities like hygiene, toiletries, and even food supplements to compensate for meager chow hall portions, it becomes distracting. Said Felicia Sullivan: “My survival is from week to week. How am I going to wash my body, my hair, do my laundry–that’s my focus.” Sullivan is serving a 17-year sentence.

The inability to be self-sufficient has a real impact on mental health. This is supported by a 2015 review by Goomany and Dickinson on mental health impact borne from the prison environment. The authors found the loss of autonomy while incarcerated is a key factor to mental distress, often leading to feelings of hopelessness.

In some states, attempts are made to ease the burden of indigent incarcerated people by providing basic hygiene items such as soap, toothpaste, and deodorant. However, the definition of “indigent” in numerous states requires the individual to have an average daily balance in their prison account of zero dollars over a 90-day period. Any money earned through a prison job, however, small disqualifies eligibility.

An argument could be made that the carceral experience is less about habilitation and more about exploiting incarcerated people and their families.

If what we pay incarcerated people for their labor and the costs they and their families shoulder for basic necessities is any indication, then much work needs to be done.

 

Christopher Monihan is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and a 2024 Stillwater award winner. He writes to draw awareness to the plight of America’s incarcerated.