Prisoners themselves are the ones choosing to work most of the time, and generally none of them are REQUIRED to work (they are required to either take job training or work).
They choose to because extra money = extra commissary snacks and having a job is preferable to being bored out of their minds all day.
That's the part that's frequently not included in the discussion of this whenever it comes up. Prison jobs don't pay minimum wage, but given that prisoners are wards of the state that seems reasonable.
I have heard anecdotes that the choice of doing work is a choice between doing work and being in solitary confinement or becoming the target of the guards who do not take kindly to prisoners who don't volunteer for work assignments.
They choose to because extra money = extra commissary snacks and having a job is preferable to being bored out of their minds all day.
That's the part that's frequently not included in the discussion of this whenever it comes up. Prison jobs don't pay minimum wage, but given that prisoners are wards of the state that seems reasonable.