Thanks to tougher sentencing laws and more drug arrests, 60 percent of black high-school dropouts in their 30s had a prison record, a recent study found. Having a prison record cuts income 40 percent, Princeton University sociologist Bruce Western said.

Some companies have a blanket ban on hiring ex-felons, although some states forbid such discrimination unless the crime related directly to the job. But a study by sociologist Devah Pager found that 34 percent of white students without a criminal record got calls back on jobs, but only 17 percent of those who disclosed that they have served time in jail for cocaine-related offenses did.

Among blacks, 14 percent of those without criminal records got called back, but only 5 percent of those who said they had cocaine felonies did.

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