General Do other countries pay their prisoners?

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Splinty

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Dec 31, 2014
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My google fu is off tonight. Can only find US sources.
Is there monetary compensation for prisoners in your country?
 

Splinty

Shake 'em off
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Dec 31, 2014
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Moved to an incognito window. Google screwing me. Only giving me the results it thinks I want.

UK
Prisoners to earn minimum wage

By James Kirkup

9:00AM BST 05 Oct 2010


Inmates will effectively be required to do full-time jobs in jail, the Justice Secretary will say.

In exchange, they will earn a "real" wage. Much of the money will be withheld and paid to victims' support funds.

Prisoners who work are paid at least £4 a week, but several schemes allow inmates to earn much more. The average prisoner who works is paid about £10 a week.

The Justice Secretary will announce that under his plan, prisoners could get the minimum wage of £5.60 an hour.

Much of the money they earn will be withheld by prison governors. Some money will be used for a new Victims' Fund and some could help pay for the prison system.

Related Articles
Mr Clarke's aides said last night that prisoners would not be substantially better off.

The average working prisoner might keep about £20 for a 40-hour week, they said.

However, the prospect of inmates getting large pay rises could prove controversial.

Prisoners are not paid in cash but receive "credits" to buy controlled items including phonecards and tobacco.

Most prisons offer inmates the chance to do paid work in kitchens, laundries and gardens. Attending education, training and rehabilitation programmes also earns payments.

Mr Clarke will tell the Conservative grassroots today that making prisoners work will ultimately make it less likely that they will return to jail.
 

Splinty

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Dec 31, 2014
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NZ same as USA basically
Prisoners paid 20 cents an hour under Ministry of Corrections incentives scheme

A prisoner incentives scheme which pays inmates as little as 20 cents an hour for work should be reconsidered by the Government, a prison reformist says.

The Department of Corrections operates the Prison Incentive Framework, which aims to improve the work habits of prisoners and their participation in vocation training, documents obtained by Stuff under the Official Information Act show.

Established in 2002, the nation-wide framework provides six levels of paid incentive, at between 20c to 60c an hour depending on an inmate's assessed work habits, skills and level of responsibility.
 

Splinty

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Dec 31, 2014
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Does the US pay more out than the rest of the world combined?
Hrrmmm, that's a good question but the answer only matters if we find out why. Do most countries not pay? If so, I'm sure the USA pays more due to our high prison rate and then paying anything will be a lot. Do most countries pay the same? Then its our high prison rate alone?
 
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Hrrmmm, that's a good question but the answer only matters if we find out why. Do most countries not pay? If so, I'm sure the USA pays more due to our high prison rate and then paying anything will be a lot. Do most countries pay the same? Then its our high prison rate alone?

You know I don't care.

Just

 

gangsterkathryn

저승사자
Oct 20, 2015
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I really didn’t find anything with general comparisons, so I just decided to look up by country. It’s not easy to find anything.

First example, Japan. Found this article, claims they get ¥5000 ($40/mo), put aside for when they’re out of the system.
What killers can expect in Japanese prisons

Israel
I can’t find any information beyond the Palestinians paying Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.
PA doubles pay-for-slay salary to murderer of 3 Israeli teenagers

Russia
Working in the Gulag


Then I got lazy and stopped.
 

kneeblock

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Apr 18, 2015
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I wouldn't mind prisoners low pay if a portion went to commissary and the products they made were solely for public use like school supplies. Nearly all NY state desks and chairs in schools are made by prisoners, or at least they were when I was growing up. But today prisons enter into contracts with corporations to have prisoners make things for them which they then sell. That's little better than slavery.
 

so long

Posting Machine
Dec 16, 2015
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I found an article from 2014 for Germany.

Depending on the kind of work between 130$ and 325$ if you're still sitting in for your sentence (e.g. doing 2 years).

If you are too dangerous to be set free, after doing your sentence, you can actually earn more, for some juristical reason, then it's between 330 and 600$. rounded estimates based on Euro to USD.

You can earn some extra money on top of that. There, the individual states make the rules.

All money earned in the joint is tax-free.

For reference, wellfare is ~440$ + they pay your rent and insurance etc. <- that is by the way way more luxurious than what a university student has to live with.