Criminal Record Checks, Drug Testing and the Employment of Minorities in Professional and Low-Skill Jobs

• In Event: Consequences of Incarceration for Economic Stability Across the Life Course

Abstract

Criminal record checks and drug testing have burgeoned since the 1980s, alongside the wars on crime and drugs. Debates rage over their impact on minority employment, yet evidence is scarce. We examine the effect of adopting criminal record checks and drug testing on workforce demographics in professional and low-skill jobs using longitudinal data on a sample of U.S. employers from 1971 to 2002. We argue that employers’ use of stereotypes about criminality and drug use among minorities shapes the screens’ effects. We assess this argument using variation in employers’ concerns about hiring ex-convicts or drug users across labor processes and regulatory environments. Because employers are more concerned about hiring ex-convicts for professional jobs and drug users for low-skill jobs, they are more likely to use stereotypes to discriminate against minorities in the absence of screens. In both cases, we find that the adoption of screens increases minority employment. Because employers are less concerned about criminality among low-skill workers and drug use among professionals, they are less likely to exclude minorities due to stereotypes, absent screens. In both cases, screen adoption hurts minority employment. Finally, federal employment regulations regarding ex-convicts and drug users affect hiring patterns with and without screens.

Authors

• Josh Guetzkow, The Hebrew University

• Alexandra Kalev, Tel Aviv University