Survey results

Chart: 1 in 3 Americans are arrested by age 25

One-third of Americans under the age of 25 have been arrested at some point in their lives, according to analysis by Deutsche Bank based on 2015 data.

The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth shows that as the labor market tightens, employers are starting to close one eye on background checks to fill their hiring needs.

The 2015 survey took a nationally representative sample of approximately 9,000 youths and was conducted through annual hour-long personal interviews.

Torsten Sløk, chief international economist at Deutsche Bank, wrote in a note that this is especially important since Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin recently cited an increase in anecdotes regarding employers relaxing their stance on arrest records, felonies, and drug testing in the face of a tightening labor market.

Barkin said that business people “think anything more than 2 or 3 percent wage increases actually put them at risk, right, from a competitive standpoint. They’re trying to find ways to get around it.”