The findings show that offenders have a worse position in the Danish labor market than the general population and are more than twice as likely to be unemployed. Most offenders outside the labor market are passive welfare clients; this number includes more than half of the penal law violators and nearly 90 percent of those released from prison. Almost 80 percent of the group recently released from prison belong to the "educational residual group" defined as persons with no vocational training. The findings reveal that, regardless of punishment or crime committed, all offenders live in poorer living conditions than the general Danish population. Furthermore, offenders who committed the most serious crimes and received the harshest sentences live in the poorest living conditions. These developmental trends describe a marginalization that affects offenders as well as other deviant groups including drug and alcohol abusers. 3 tables, 1 figure, 9 notes, and 16 references (Author abstract modified)