Nonconviction Arrests and Labor Market Trajectories

In this Article, I examine whether nonconviction arrests—one of the least severe forms of formal criminal justice contact—destabilize labor market trajectories. Using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) and individual fixed-effects models, I isolate the relationship between nonconviction arrests and labor market outcomes among adult men. I find that a nonconviction arrest is associated with a 7.5% point increase in the likelihood of employment disruption in the following survey period. In the longer term, nonconviction arrests are associated with hourly wages that are approximately 10.5% lower and significant reductions in access to employer-provided health insurance (5.1% points) and retirement benefits (8.7% points). Reduced access to benefits appears to be related to lower rates of full-time employment. Given Black men’s disproportionate exposure to nonconviction arrest, these findings suggest that arrest practices may contribute to racial disparities in labor market outcomes.