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
We have failed to fully appreciate how deeply housing is implicated in the creation of poverty.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Housing plays a crucial role in the development and persistence of poverty.
In this quote, Matthew Desmond highlights the significant link between inadequate housing and poverty. He argues that failing to recognize this relationship leads to a lack of effective solutions to combat poverty, as the stability and quality of oneβs living conditions deeply influence opportunities and quality of life.
Themes
HousingPovertySocial IssuesCommunityStability
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on social justice, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of adequate housing in combating 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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