Families & Children

More than half of all women in prison have a child under 16 who was living with them before they were sent to prison. Over one third of mothers in prison have a child under 5. Four prisons have mother and baby units providing a total of 64 places for mothers and their young babies. It is estimated that over 8000 children are affected each year by their mother's imprisonment.

Women are held an average of 63 miles away from home, though as always this average figure conceals very wide differences with some women being held over 100 miles from their families. The distance and the fact that some of the prisons are very difficult to get to by public transport mean that maintaining contact is far from easy. The children of women in prison are often cared for by grandparents or friends of their mother rather than their fathers and this too sometimes means they are unlikely to be brought to visit on a regular basis.