Explain why incarceration rates must be taken into account in order to understand labor market inequality. Support your answer by identifying and describing two specific ways in which incarceration impacts the wage gap between black and white men.

Incarceration rates have to be taken into account to understand labor market inequality since the more people that are imprisoned, the more job opportunities there are for a specific group of people. Black men are incarcerated longer than white men although the crimes they commit aren't as serious. For example, Brock Turner raped an unconscious woman in 2015. His sentence was 6 months but since he was white and had a good upbringing he only served 3 months. Because white men are not imprisoned as long as black men, they are able to get good jobs despite being a convict and are able to make a decent amount of money. According te Huffpost, black men have a 20% longer prison sentence than white men for committing similar crimes. Incarcerated black men aren't able to make money once they are released because they aren't trusted because of the color of their skin. The labor market inequality is unequal because the incarceration of black men prevents them from making a living, while white men who commit more severe crimes are released and more trusted because of the color of their skin.