Report by Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice found that a criminal record has a negative impact on employment opportunities of women. Formerly incarcerated women are significantly less likely than non-formerly incarcerated women to receive a positive response from potential employers and face a number of mental, financial, and physical barriers to seeking and retaining employment.

The report encourages policymakers to consider adopting and strengthening laws that allow for the sealing and expungement of criminal records under certain circumstances, ban discrimination on the basis of criminal history, and restrict the use of background screening to only the most sensitive occupations.