Study: Black Men, White Ex-Cons Share Equal Job Prospects

[matcom]

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NEW YORK -- A new study says black men with no criminal histories are about as likely to be offered jobs in New York City as white men with felony convictions.

The study, released by the city Commission on Human Rights, finds employers call back black men who present resumes with no criminal background 16 percent of the time -- about as often as white men who report criminal histories.

Meanwhile, blacks with convictions in their past were called back 6 percent of the time. Whites with clean records were offered jobs 21 percent of the time.

The study, led by sociology professors at Princeton University, followed 13 men on 3,500 job interviews over the course of a year beginning in February 2004.

The men posed as high school graduates with similar credentials and applied for such jobs as deli clerks, telemarketers and cashiers.

On some interviews, candidates told employers they had spent 18 months in prison on a drug conviction.

Princeton University sociology professor Bruce Western helped conduct the study. He told the New York Daily News that employers are hesitant to trust young black men.

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