Three quarters of Brits would be happy to work with former prisoners, new poll finds

Three quarters of UK adults (76 per cent) would be comfortable working alongside former prisoners who have passed safeguarding checks, according to a new poll commissioned by leading think-tank the Centre for Social Justice.   

Carried out by Opinium, with a sample size of 2,000 people, the poll also found 85 per cent of Brits would back prison leavers being offered a job upon release.  
Yet despite a record number of job vacancies in the UK, many former prisoners face compounding and complex barriers which limit their ability to access the labour market – with only 16 per cent of prisoners in employment six weeks after release, and more shockingly just 23 per cent six months after. 

The Centre for Social Justice argues that there is a strong case for improving employment outcomes further for prison leavers, beyond welcome recent Government initiatives such as the introduction of employment advisory boards in prisons. In 2021 Ministry of Justice research revealed that 90 per cent of employers who have taken on ex-offenders say that they are ‘motivated, reliable, good at their job and trustworthy’. Whilst employment for former prisoners has been found to significantly reduce the chances of reoffending, which costs the taxpayer an estimated £18.1 billion annually. 

Today, the CSJ launches a call for evidence to understand what more can be done to help prisoners access meaningful and sustained employment on release from prison. This will form part of a research and policy project that will gather data about the landscape of prisoner education and employment, identify examples of best practice and make recommendations on where action can be taken to improve outcomes.   

Andy Cook, CEO of the Centre for Social Justice, said:

“Work has a vital role to play in reducing reoffending and it’s encouraging to see 85 per cent of people backing prison leavers being offered a job upon release. Our new research will explore how best to turn this into reality, enabling prison leavers to access tailored education, training and employability support to ensure they can find a job upon release and turn their lives around.”