Pandemic era impacts on generational cohorts in federal corrections

Research Highlights: Millennials now comprise the largest proportion of federal custody and community supervision populations.

Along with unprecedented declines in the federal offender population during the pandemic era^{Footnote 1}, there were also substantial shifts in composition as it relates to different age groups^{Footnote 2},^{Footnote 3}. Another way of exploring impacts of the pandemic era is by means of analyzing change from a generational cohort perspective which presupposes that groups of individuals based on their early life experiences may share a set of similar beliefs, values and behaviours. Membership in a cohort of individuals born at a similar time allows for understanding the trajectory of how worldviews might differ across generations.

Age distribution data recorded in Correctional Service of Canada's Corporate Reporting System-Modernized were extracted at year-end for federal custody (13,720 in 2019-20 and 12,328 in 2021-22) populations. Data was then disaggregated according to six generational age cohorts of people born in the same date range: "Silent Generation" (1928 to 1945), "Baby Boomers" (1946 to 1964), Generation X (1965 to 1980), "Millennials" (1981 to 1995) and Generation Z (1996 to 2010). One case was removed from the analysis who was under community supervision belonging to the "Greatest Generation" (1901 to 1927).

While "Millennials" now make up the largest percentage of federal inmates (46%) and those under community supervision (36%), it would appear that during the pandemic era "Baby Boomers" have shifted upward /increased whereas "Generation Z" declined in their percentage representation. Although generational cutoff points are deemed not to be an exact science, they can have profound impacts on a variety of generation shaping considerations such as the rapid evolution of technology in how people communicate and interact. Tracking how the next generations of correctional populations will respond in a largely digital world will become increasingly important.

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Prepared by: Larry Motiuk and Luc Bisson