If you have someone who is paying 88 percent of her income on rent, and we have laws that allow a landlord to evict a tenant who falls behind under those circumstances, eviction becomes an inevitability.
Matthew DesmondRead
Exploitation. Now, there's a word that has been scrubbed out of the poverty debate.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights how the notion of exploitation is often ignored or overlooked in discussions about poverty.
Matthew Desmond's quote emphasizes that the term 'exploitation' should be central to discussions of poverty, yet it is frequently omitted. By bringing attention to this word, Desmond invites us to consider the systemic inequalities and economic structures that perpetuate poverty, suggesting that without recognizing exploitation, we cannot fully understand the complexities of poverty.
Themes
ExploitationPovertyInequalitySocial JusticeSystemic Issues
In practice
Example use cases
During a seminar on social justice, one might use this quote to illustrate the overlooked aspects of poverty.
More from Matthew Desmond
All quotes βDo we believe housing is a right and that affordable housing is part of what it should mean to be an American? I say yes.
Matthew DesmondRead
The texture and hardship of poverty and eviction is something that I think left the deepest impression on me, and I hope that I try to convey a little bit of that to the reader.
Matthew DesmondRead
When I was confronted with just the bare facts of poverty and inequality in America, it always disturbed and confused me.
Matthew DesmondRead
Arguably, the families most at need of housing assistance are systematically denied it because they're stamped with an eviction record. Moms and kids are bearing the brunt of those consequences.
Matthew DesmondRead
Moms that get evicted are depressed and have higher rates of depressive symptoms two years later. That has to affect their interactions with their kids and their sense of happiness. You add all that together, and it's just really obvious to me that eviction is a cause, not just a condition, of poverty.
Matthew DesmondRead
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