Family Quotes by Matthew Desmond

“Instability is not inherent to poverty. Poor families move so much because they are forced to. Along”

— Matthew Desmond

“Families who spend more on housing spend less on their children.”

— Matthew Desmond

If we care about family stability, if we care about community stability, then we need fewer evictions.

— Matthew Desmond

The high cost of housing is crushing poor families and sending them to a state of desperation.

— Matthew Desmond

Most Americans think that the typical low - income family lives in public housing or gets housing assistance. The opposite is true.

— Matthew Desmond

You can get out of maintaining property at code if the family is behind on rent.

— Matthew Desmond

Children didn't shield families from eviction: They exposed them to it.

— Matthew Desmond

“the presence of children in the household almost tripled a tenant’s odds of receiving an eviction judgment.”

— Matthew Desmond

I met a landlord who will pay you to move at the end of the week and let you use his van.…

— Matthew Desmond

Arguably, the families most at need of housing assistance are systematically denied it because they're stamped with an eviction record. Moms and…

— Matthew Desmond

“Families who spend more on housing spend less on their children.23 Poor families are living above their means, in apartments they cannot…

— Matthew Desmond

“Today, the majority of poor renting families in America spend over half of their income on housing, and at least one in…

— Matthew Desmond

Poor families are living above their means, in apartments they cannot afford. The thing is, those apartments are already at the bottom…

— Matthew Desmond

“Along with instability, eviction also causes loss. Families lose not only their home, school, and neighborhood but also their possessions: furniture, clothes,…

— Matthew Desmond

Between 2007 and 2010, the average white family experienced an 11% reduction in wealth, but the average black family lost 31% of…

— Matthew Desmond

Eviction riots erupted during the Depression, though the number of poor families who faced eviction each year was a fraction of what…

— Matthew Desmond

“90 percent of landlords are represented by attorneys, and 90 percent of tenants are not.35 Low-income families on the edge of eviction…

— Matthew Desmond

“A single eviction could destabilize multiple city blocks, not only the block from which a family was evicted but also the block…

— Matthew Desmond

The standard of 'affordable' housing is that which costs roughly 30 percent or less of a family's income. Because of rising housing…

— Matthew Desmond

Most poor families are living completely unassisted in a private rental market, devoting most of their income to housing. When you meet…

— Matthew Desmond

Since evictions go through court, it has a record that comes with it, and many landlords that I spend time with use…

— Matthew Desmond

“For example, a program that ran from 2005 to 2008 in the South Bronx provided more than 1,300 families with legal assistance…

— Matthew Desmond

“Most federal housing subsidies benefit families with six-figure incomes.59 If we are going to spend the bulk of our public dollars on…

— Matthew Desmond

“Screening practices that banned criminality and poverty in the same stroke drew poor families shoulder to shoulder with drug dealers, sex offenders,…

— Matthew Desmond

“It was an old tradition: landlords barring children from their properties. In the competitive postwar housing market of the late 1940s, landlords…

— Matthew Desmond

“In Milwaukee, a city of fewer than 105,000 renter households, landlords evict roughly 16,000 adults and children each year. That's sixteen families…

— Matthew Desmond

“Legal aid to the poor has been steadily diminishing since the Reagan years and was decimated during the Great Recession. The result…

— Matthew Desmond

Losing a home sends families to shelters, abandoned houses, and the street.

— Matthew Desmond

Since the publication of 'Evicted', I have had countless conversations with concerned families across America. Teachers in under-served communities have told me…

— Matthew Desmond

Home is the wellspring of personhood, where our identity takes root; where civic life begins. America is supposed to be a place…

— Matthew Desmond

Families, when they get a housing voucher, they move a lot less. They move into better neighborhoods. Their kids go to the…

— Matthew Desmond

There is a deep connection, when we're talking about certain market forces and a legal structure that inhibits low or moderate income…

— Matthew Desmond

Poverty is not just a sad accident, but it's also a result of the fact that some people make a lot of…

— Matthew Desmond

Families who get evicted tend to live in worse housing than they did before, and they live in neighborhoods with higher poverty…

— Matthew Desmond

“Families have watched their incomes stagnate, or even fall, while their housing costs have soared. Today, the majority of poor renting families…

— Matthew Desmond

“Often, evicted families also lose the opportunity to benefit from public housing because Housing Authorities count evictions and unpaid debt as strikes…

— Matthew Desmond

“Eviction's fallout is severe. Losing a home sends families to shelters, abandoned houses, and the street. It invites depression and illness, compels…

— Matthew Desmond

“It was once said that the poor are 'constantly exposed to evidence of their own irrelevance.' Especially for poor African-American families -…

— Matthew Desmond

“A problem as big as the affordable-housing crisis calls for a big solution. It should be at the top of America's domestic-policy…

— Matthew Desmond

Evictions used to be rare in this country. They used to draw crowds. There are scenes in literature where you can come…

— Matthew Desmond