Ever wonder who makes some of the products you use every day? Some come from an invisible workforce you probably never think about - people in prison. This system generates $11 billion annually, often paying workers almost nothing. It’s not just an economic issue. It raises serious questions about human rights and what modern slavery actually looks like in America.
The United States runs a prison system where incarcerated people make everything from office furniture to tech parts to farm products. Most of this happens out of public view, but the scale is huge. It works through state contracts and private company partnerships, all using a legal loophole that allows “involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime.”
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, but it includes one major exception. It allows forced labor for people convicted of crimes. This creates a legal way to exploit workers that wouldn’t be allowed anywhere else. Prison workers don’t get protections like minimum wage or safety regulations that other workers have. This isn’t just old history - companies and governments actively use this loophole today.
Both state governments and private companies make serious money from this setup. Prisons often get a cut of the profits, which gives them a strong reason to keep using cheap prison labor. This system breaks international agreements about ending modern slavery. It also creates demand for a steady supply of workers that taxpayers end up funding.
What It Actually Does to People
Supporters say prison labor helps rehabilitate people, but that’s not what happens in practice. Most incarcerated workers say they want to learn skills for when they get out. But most prison jobs don’t teach useful skills. Instead, people do repetitive, basic tasks that don’t prepare them for real jobs later. It’s about making quick profit, not helping people - similar to other forms of digital labor prisons.
The system also reinforces racial and economic inequality. Black people make up a much larger portion of prison workers than their share of the general population. In many Southern states, incarcerated workers (mostly Black) do farm work on land that used to be prison plantations. This mirrors the convict leasing system that came after the Civil War. These workers must work or face punishment, often for less than a dollar an hour, sometimes for no pay at all. That’s not rehabilitation - that’s continuing historical exploitation.
Trying to Fix a Broken System
Human rights groups want major changes. They’re pushing to eliminate laws that punish incarcerated people who can’t or won’t work. They also want to treat incarcerated people as real employees with basic labor protections and fair wages.
This isn’t about being nice - it’s about fixing a system that makes money from keeping people in prison instead of helping them. We need to stop companies from depending on captive labor and focus on real education and job training in prisons. Groups like the ACLU are working to close the 13th Amendment loophole and end modern slavery in U.S. prisons. The Walk Free Foundation calls this a key part of stopping state-imposed forced labor worldwide.
The products we buy every day might come from a system that treats people as less than human. As we think about ethics in other areas, we need to look at these old systems that still exist today. The $11 billion from prison labor isn’t just a number - it shows us a problem with how we think about justice and freedom. We need to expose this hidden workforce and demand a system that puts human rights before profit.