Suspending Ohioans’ drivers’ licenses over debts doesn’t just hurt those people. It also is likely taking a huge bite out of the state’s workforce, according to a study released last week by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

According to the report’s more conservative estimate, a whopping 14.4% of the Ohio labor force could be at risk of leaving it in any given year due to such suspensions. That’s a big enough chunk to affect everybody, authors Kyle D. Fee and Brian A. Mikelbank of Cleveland State University wrote.

“Our analysis suggests that these suspensions, especially when combined with increasing driver’s license requirements, make finding and maintaining employment more difficult for a sizable portion of Ohioans, but that instability also affects the broader economy,” they wrote. “Fewer people in the labor force means fewer people to hire and fewer people to produce and consume goods and services.”

Read the full story from the Ohio Capital Journal online.