“Prison Ain’t Free Like Everyone Thinks”: Financial Stressors Faced by Incarcerated Women
Abstract
Most women in prison are poor and suffer from health problems prior to and during incarceration. Policies that impose inmate medical co-payment fees do not consider gender-specific health needs or other financial stressors faced by women in prison. We examine the financial needs and concerns of incarcerated women through the lens of gender and behavioral economics. We conducted individual interviews with 95 women incarcerated in a medium/maximum security prison in the United States. Women described several common financial stressors during confinement: paying for medical care, “working for pennies,” staying in contact with loved ones, and relying on others. In an attempt to remain gender neutral, prison polices often do not consider gender-based differences between male and female prisoners. When gender neutrality is applied to financial policies surrounding access to healthcare, incarcerated women are profoundly disadvantaged and left to make consequential trade-offs with scarce financial resources. Our findings provide important insight into financial stressors facing incarcerated women and provide evidence to support the elimination of mandatory medical co-payment fees for incarcerated women.
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In-prison costs including healthcare fees may result in stressful borrowing from other incarcerated people and social networks, particularly by incarcerated women who have higher rates of health problems than incarcerated men.
“In-prison costs including healthcare fees may result in stressful borrowing from other incarcerated people and social networks, particularly by incarcerated women who have higher rates of health problems than incarcerated men (Harner, Wyant, & Da Silva, 2017).”
From Debt, Incarceration, and Re-entry: a Scoping Review (2021) · cites this paper as Harner, Wyant, & Da Silva, 2017
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“Many families, especially those from impoverished backgrounds, feel financial stressors (Rubenstein et al., 2021) as their loved ones make little to no income while incarcerated (Harner et al., 2017).”
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“A small number of studies have shown that medical copays in prison are associated with delays in diagnoses and decreased healthcare utilization among women [28], and that medical debt and “debts of survival,” such as resources needed for food and shelter, hinder women’s healthcare access after release from prison [29].”
BackgroundDaily life and women’ stressors through a structural topic modeling application of online messages
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“Due to the high price of items in prisons, with often little available funds for such needed items, women describe the need to stay in contact with family members or loved ones, particularly as a part of relying on them to send additional funds to survive within prison (Harner et al., 2017).”
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“…that overall QOL is not determined by the physical health and material conditions, but also by prisoners’ internal psychological capital and social resources (Greberman et al., 2025; Harner et al., 2017; Mommaerts et al., 2025; Panisch et al., 2019; Prost & Novisky, 2022; Rogers et al., 2024).”
InfluentialTenNapel, M., Jahic, I., Caspers, H., & Kim, J. (2024) · Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice · doi:10.1177/10439862241272334 · Cited by 1
“Furthermore, many incarcerated women experience economic hardships, with a significant proportion living in poverty, having low educational attainment, and being a primary-care provider for their children (Elwood Martin et al., 2012; Ferraro et al., 2003; Harner et al., 2017).”
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Women prisoners’ perceptions of healthcare in a Midwestern prison
Moody, A., & Wulf, T. (2020) · The Social science journal (Fort Collins) · doi:10.1080/03623319.2020.1762058 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“The authors argue that a fee-for-service model disadvantages incarcerated women when compared to incarcerated men (Harner et al., 2017).”
BackgroundInfluentialCommonness, Costliness, and Consequences of Monetary Sanctions
Bohmert, M. N., Ruhland, E. L., Ying, M., & Diaz, C. L. (2025) · Victims & Offenders · doi:10.1080/15564886.2025.2550644
- Authors
- Harner, H. M., Wyant, B. R., & Da Silva, F.
- Affiliations
- La Salle University (US)
- La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Corresponding author
- Harner, Holly M.
- ORCID
- Wyant, Brian R.
- Venue
- Qualitative Health Research
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2016-08-20
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 688-699
- ISSN
- 1049-7323 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-7557
- OpenAlex
- W2514323191
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2018: 1
- FWCI
- 0.95
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Qualitative Health Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- De La Salle University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Healthcare Policy and Management
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations
- Keywords
- women prisoners, prison health care, financial stress, gender differences, gender neutrality, behavioral economics, prison policy
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Female, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Middle Aged, Prisoners, Prisons, United States, Women's Health, Qualitative Research, Young Adult
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