Incarcerated people across the United States are working full-time jobs that keep prisons running, supply major corporations, and even support government agencies.
But here’s the catch: they’re often paid just pennies per hour or sometimes nothing at all.
This isn’t just about prison maintenance or rehabilitation. This is an economy built on exploitation; one where labor is extracted from a captive population, disproportionately Black and poor, under threat of punishment.
It’s time to call this what it is: modern slavery.
How it Works
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, over 800,000 incarcerated people work in prisons across the country. These jobs range from food service and janitorial work to manufacturing, agriculture, and even firefighting.
Wages? As low as $0.13 an hour in some states. In places like Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Texas, incarcerated workers are paid nothing at all.
And who benefits?
Everyone but them:
- Government agencies that rely on cheap labor to reduce costs
- Private corporations that sign contracts with prison industries for goods and services
- State prison systems that profit from selling inmate-made products to public institutions
This setup isn’t about rehabilitation; it’s about revenue.
Who’s Profiting
Companies like McDonald’s, Walmart, AT&T, Whole Foods, and Victoria’s Secret have, at various times, been connected to prison labor through contractors or supply chains. And many states run their own for-profit prison industries, often branded with names like “Corrections Enterprises” or “Prison Industries Authority.”
The Prison Policy Initiative highlights how states justify these wages by citing free housing and food, conveniently ignoring that incarcerated people are often charged “room and board” fees, co-pays for medical care, and exorbitant phone and commissary prices.
In short, they are forced to work, underpaid, and then charged for the right to survive.
The Racial Roots
This system is a direct extension of slavery. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery “except as punishment for a crime.” And that loophole is not at all accident.
After the Civil War, Southern states used “Black Codes” to criminalize Black life, to include vagrancy, loitering, unemployment, and then forced people into labor under convict leasing. Today’s prison labor system is that legacy, repackaged. And we see it in current laws today; through penalizing people on probation for being unable to find work, or being homeless due to lack of affordable housing.
Black Americans make up 13% of the U.S. population but nearly 40% of the incarcerated population, making them disproportionately affected by this exploitative labor scheme.
The Human Cost
People behind bars are:
- Cleaning up toxic spills and fighting wildfires for less than $2/day
- Sewing uniforms for state troopers and manufacturing furniture for public schools
- Being punished if they refuse to work, losing phone access, visits, or commissary privileges, though some states are beginning to address this.
And when they’re released? Most can’t even list their prison labor on a resume or apply for unemployment benefits.
What Needs to Change
There are so many things we could do better and it can start in a few places:
- Abolish the 13th Amendment exception clause
- Ensure fair wages and worker protections for incarcerated people
- Ban the use of unpaid or underpaid prison labor in public contracts
- Hold corporations accountable for benefiting from prison slavery Invest in actual rehabilitative job training, not exploitation
Final Thoughts
Prison labor isn’t hidden in some dark corner of the justice system, because it’s been built into the supply chains of everyday life. When we ignore it, we endorse it. When we stay silent, we profit from it.
Justice means ending slavery in every form. Even the ones we’ve normalized.
