Vicky Pryce: What are her job prospects now? What's really tragic too is how hard many women find it to pick up their lives again after leaving prison. Ms Pryce's solicitor said: "She now intends to spend time with her family and looks forward to returning to her career as an economist." But what will her job prospects be? Already, her hopes of literary acclamation for her book on the Greek economy, Greekonomics, have been dashed. It was put forward for the Orwell Prize, with one of the judges for the award, Arifa Akbar, declaring herself surprised "how engaging she made the dreary business of triple-dips and fiscal cliffs." But because the award is all about exposing lies and revealing truth, the judges in the end felt that Ms Pryce's conviction for perverting the course of justice meant that she was "one of those writers whose misdemeanour overshadows the excellent achievement of her work." And if Ms Pryce - with her business nous, reputation and contacts - looks set to find it a struggle, what about all those women without her qualifications and track record? A report from the National Offender Management Service last year shows that women sentenced to less than a year in prison very rarely find work when they leave. Only 8.4 per cent do, compared to 27.3 per cent of men. Women rarely find work after a short stint in prison. Even the guys find it hard. Just look at Jonathan Aitken. Emerging from jail after serving his time for a perjury conviction, the former cabinet minister fancied a return to politics. Any such notion was swiftly scotched by the then Tory leader Michael Howard. He has managed to carve out a new career as a writer and commentator but it took him the best part of a decade to do so. And even then, his books are largely defined by his time in prison - Prayers for People under Pressure, and a biography of the sailor and clergyman John Newton subtitled "From Disgrace to Amazing Grace." So Ms Pryce may find it a challenge indeed to draw a line under her eight week sojourn at Her Majesty's pleasure. If that does prove to be the case, it would surely be some comfort to her and of great value to others if she was to turn her bitter experience into good use by campaigning against thousands of women being incarcerated to the detriment of their own health and the public purse.