It is very rare in the life of an intellectual to see your support network show up all at once. — Matthew Desmond Intellectual Copy Share Image
I had come to college believing in a story that if you worked hard, the American dream was reachable. — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
I love Milwaukee, the rust belt. It's a very special part of America that's full of promise but also full of pain,… — Matthew Desmond America Copy Share Image
Most cities don't have a just cause eviction law. Most allow no cause evictions, as well as evictions for nonpayment. — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
If we take a hard look at what poverty is, its nature, it's not pretty - it's full of trauma. — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
If we care about family stability, if we care about community stability, then we need fewer evictions. — Matthew Desmond Care Copy Share Image
Public-sector union organisers have told me about how firefighters, police officers, and nurses can no longer afford to live in the cities… — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
The high cost of housing is crushing poor families and sending them to a state of desperation. — Matthew Desmond Desperation Copy Share Image
I don't want to sound Pollyannish about this. I understand that poverty is never just poverty. It's often this collection of maladies,… — Matthew Desmond Adversity Copy Share Image
“If we are going to spend the bulk of our public dollars on the affluent — at least when it comes to… — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
I saw people get fired after their eviction. But when I found that if you get evicted, your chances of losing your… — Matthew Desmond Evicted Copy Share Image
“Most poor people in America were like Arleen: they did not live in public housing or apartments subsidized by vouchers. Three in… — Matthew Desmond Housing Copy Share Image
If you have someone who is paying 88 percent of her income on rent, and we have laws that allow a landlord… — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
Between 2007 and 2010, the average white family experienced an 11% reduction in wealth, but the average black family lost 31% of… — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
“They have shown that problems endemic to poverty—residential instability, severe deprivation, concentrated neighborhood disadvantage, health disparities, even joblessness—stem from the lack of… — Matthew Desmond Affordable housing Copy Share Image
Eviction comes with a record. Just like a criminal record can hurt you in the jobs market, eviction can hurt you in… — Matthew Desmond Eviction Copy Share Image
“When people began to view their neighborhood as brimming with deprivation and vice, full of “all sorts of shipwrecked humanity,” they lost… — Matthew Desmond Community Copy Share Image
“Tenants in eviction court were generally poor, and almost all of them (92 percent) had missed rent payments. The majority spent at… — Matthew Desmond Eviction Copy Share Image
“In Milwaukee, renters with housing vouchers were charged an average of $55 more each month, compared to unassisted renters who lived in… — Matthew Desmond Housing Copy Share Image
“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 Eviction Copy Share Image
“Losing your home and possessions and often your job; being stamped with an eviction record and denied government housing assistance; relocating to… — Matthew Desmond Eviction Copy Share Image
“Families have watched their incomes stagnate, or even fall, while their housing costs have soared. Today, the majority of poor renting families… — Matthew Desmond Family Copy Share Image
“As President Clinton was fine-tuning his plan to “end welfare as we know it,” a conservative reformer by the name of Jason… — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
“Some landlords neglected to screen tenants for the same reason payday lenders offered unsecured, high-interest loans to families with unpaid debt or… — Matthew Desmond Air conditioner Copy Share Image
Most Americans think that the typical low - income family lives in public housing or gets housing assistance. The opposite is true. — Matthew Desmond Family Copy Share Image
American greatness can be further unlocked if opportunity is expanded to all people within its borders. — Matthew Desmond America Copy Share Image
I felt that writing about peoples' lives was a heck of a responsibility, and I wanted to know them in a deep… — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
“It was once said that the poor are “constantly exposed to evidence of their own irrelevance.” — Matthew Desmond Irrelevance Copy Share Image
“There are two ways to dehumanize; the first is to strip people of all virtue; the second is to cleanse them of… — Matthew Desmond Dehumanize Copy Share Image
What we're seeing is that even in high poverty neighborhoods, the average cost of renting is quickly approaching the total income of… — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
“Once America's eleventh-largest city, Milwaukee's population had fallen below 600,000, down from over 740,000 in 1960. It showed.” — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
The cost of evictions varies a lot, but it could be for landlords an expensive process as well. Among the costs for… — Matthew Desmond Costs Copy Share Image
No moral code or ethical principle, no piece of scripture or holy teaching, can be summoned to defend what we have allowed… — Matthew Desmond Country Copy Share Image
There are moving companies specializing in evictions, their crews working all day, every weekday. — Matthew Desmond Companies Copy Share Image
“Affordable housing is a human-capital investment, just like job programs or education, one that would strengthen and steady the American workforce.” — Matthew Desmond Affordable housing Copy Share Image
I don't think we can fix poverty without fixing housing, and I don't think we can address housing without understanding landlords. — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
Eviction causes loss. You lose not only your home but also your possessions, which are thrown onto the curb or taken by… — Matthew Desmond Eviction Copy Share Image
“The effect of living with children on receiving an eviction judgment was equivalent to falling four months behind in rent.12” — Matthew Desmond Children Copy Share Image
If I wrote in Michael Harrington's time, roughly 50 years later when he published 'The Other America', I'd still be writing about… — Matthew Desmond America Copy Share Image
When I talk to booksellers, they tell me how hard it is to hand-sell some of my books because I do keep… — Matthew Desmond Copy Share Image
