According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics:

Approximately 7 in 10 women under correctional sanction have minor children -- children under the age of 18. An estimated 72% of women on probation, 70% of women held in local jails, 65% of women in State prisons, and 59% of women in Federal prisons have young children.

Women under correctional care, custody, or supervision with minor children reported an average of 2.11 children of this age. Those on probation reported the fewest, 2.07 young children per woman with children while those in State prison reported an average of 2.38 children under age 18.

In 1997 an estimated 2.8% of all children under age 18 have at least one parent in a local jail or a State or Federal prison. About 1 in 40 children have an incarcerated father, and 1 in 359 children have an incarcerated mother.

These estimates translate into more than 1.3 million minor children who are the offspring of women under correctional sanction; more than a quarter million of these children have mothers who are serving time in prison or jail. About two-thirds of women in State prisons and half of women in Federal prisons who had young children had lived with those children prior to entering prison.

Males serving time in State prisons reported that they have nearly 11 times as many minor children as women serving time in State prisons but 4 in 10 said they had lived with the children prior to entering prison. Males in Federal prison had nearly 15 times the number of minor children as reported by women in Federal prison but more than 8 out of 10 men with these young children reported that they had lived with the children prior to entering prison.

Source:

U.S. Department of Justice
Office of Justice Programs
Bureau of Justice Statistics Bulletin

Women Offenders
by
Lawrence A. Greenfeld
and Tracy L. Snell
BJS Statisticians

December 1999 NCJ 175688, pages 16-17