--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Residential stability begets a kind of…" description: "\"“Residential stability begets a kind of psychological stability, which allows people to invest in their home and social relationships. It begets school..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/matthew-desmond-1529_kansas-city_residential-stability-begets-a-kind-of-p_1536840.jpg" --- # Residential stability begets a kind of psychological… ![“Residential stability begets a kind of psychological stability, which allows people to invest in their home and social relationships. It begets school stability, which increases the chances that children will excel and graduate. And it begets community stability, which encourages neighbors to form…” quote by Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/matthew-desmond-1529_kansas-city_residential-stability-begets-a-kind-of-p_1536840.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/matthew-desmond-1529_kansas-city_residential-stability-begets-a-kind-of-p_1536840.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/matthew-desmond-1529_kansas-city_residential-stability-begets-a-kind-of-p_1536840.jpg) > ““Residential stability begets a kind of psychological stability, which allows people to invest in their home and social relationships. It begets school stability, which increases the chances that children will excel and graduate. And it begets community stability, which encourages neighbors to form strong bonds and take care of their block.7 But poor families enjoy little of that because they are evicted at such high rates. That low-income families move often is well known. Why they do is a question that has puzzled researchers and policymakers because they have overlooked the frequency of eviction in disadvantaged neighborhoods.8 Between 2009 and 2011, roughly a quarter of all moves undertaken by Milwaukee’s poorest renters were involuntary. Once you account for those dislocations (eviction, landlord foreclosure), low-income households move at a similar rate as everyone else.9 If you study eviction court records in other cities, you arrive at similarly startling numbers. Jackson County, Missouri, which includes half of Kansas City, saw 19 formal evictions a day between 2009 and 2013. New York City courts saw almost 80 nonpayment evictions a day in 2012. That same year, 1 in 9 occupied rental households in Cleveland, and 1 in 14 in Chicago, were summoned to eviction court.10 Instability is not inherent to poverty. Poor families move so much because they are forced to.”” [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Housing instability, driven by frequent evictions, undermines personal, educational, and community stability, especially for low‑income families. **In simple terms:** Evictions cause instability that harms families and neighborhoods. Key Takeaway Address eviction prevention policies. Themes poverty housing stability policy inequality Mood concerned determined Type social political When to use this quote - policy advocacy - community support programs - tenant legal aid - research on eviction impacts Key Concepts urban economics social welfare public health Questions to Reflect On - What systemic changes reduce eviction rates? - How can communities build resilience? A Different Perspective Legal and market constraints can limit policy effectiveness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Community Stability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community-stability-5161692/) [Eviction Disadvantaged](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eviction-disadvantaged-5714315/) [Housing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/housing/) [Kansas city](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kansas-city/) [New york city](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/new-york-city/) [Residential Stability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/residential-stability-5714314/) [School Stability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school-stability-5714316/) [Social relationships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-relationships/) [Study Eviction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/study-eviction-5714317/) [Well known](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/well-known/) [York City](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/york-city/) ## Related quotes > [If we care about family stability, if we care about community stability, then we need fewer evictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/if-we-care-about-family-stability-if-we-care-about-community/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [We use eating as a medium for social relationships: satisfaction of the most individual of needs becomes a means of creating community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-visser/we-use-eating-as-a-medium-for-social-relationships-satisfaction-of/) [Margaret Visser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-visser/) > [“Nature’s ultimate goal is to foster the growth of the individual from absolute dependence to independence — or, more exactly, to the interdependence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabor-mat/nature-s-ultimate-goal-is-to-foster-the-growth-of-the-individual-from/) [Gabor Maté](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabor-mat/) > [Sin defies God, utterly corrupts each individual, corrodes all social relationships, and issues in death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-carson/sin-defies-god-utterly-corrupts-each-individual-corrodes-all-social/) [D. A. Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-carson/) > [If people who have to work together in an enterprise trust one another it is because they are all operating to a common set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-fukuyama/if-people-who-have-to-work-together-in-an-enterprise-trust-one/) [Francis Fukuyama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-fukuyama/) > [“The sperm whales' network of female-based family unit resembled, to a remarkable extent, the community the whalemen had left back home on Nantucket. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-philbrick/the-sperm-whales-network-of-female-based-family-unit-resembled-to-a/) [Nathaniel Philbrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-philbrick/) > [To me documentary photography means making a picture so that the viewer doesn’t think about the man who made the picture. At its esthetic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-siskind/to-me-documentary-photography-means-making-a-picture-so-that-the/) [Aaron Siskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-siskind/) > [The prevailing move in American society to a permanent war status does more than promote a set of unifying symbols that embrace a survival…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/the-prevailing-move-in-american-society-to-a-permanent-war-status/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [“...class is more than income - it has to do with knowing where you stand in a web of social relationships.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/class-is-more-than-income-it-has-to-do-with-knowing-where-you-stand/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [“One third of managers are victims of "Information Fatigue Syndrome." 49 percent said they are unable to handle the vast amounts of information received.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-davidson/one-third-of-managers-are-victims-of-information-fatigue-syndrome-49/) [Jeff Davidson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-davidson/) > [“The reigning belief today is that closeness between persons is a moral good. The reigning aspiration today is to develop individual personality through experiences…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-sennett/the-reigning-belief-today-is-that-closeness-between-persons-is-a/) [Richard Sennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-sennett/) > [Sublimation of instinct is an especially conspicuous feature of cultural development; it is what makes it possible for higher psychical activities, scientific, artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/sublimation-of-instinct-is-an-especially-conspicuous-feature-of/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [We are (most of us) embedded in an exceedingly complex network of social relationships, many of which are vital to our well-being. Every day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-corning/we-are-most-of-us-embedded-in-an-exceedingly-complex-network-of/) [Peter Corning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-corning/) > [A new world of complex relationships and feelings opens up when the peer group takes its place alongside the family as the emotional focus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-greenspan/a-new-world-of-complex-relationships-and-feelings-opens-up-when-the/) [Stanley Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-greenspan/) > [I would say our social relationships are relatively shallow. We are actually afraid to be intimate, with people - many people even with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/i-would-say-our-social-relationships-are-relatively-shallow-we-are/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) ## More by Matthew Desmond > [I don't think we can fix poverty without fixing housing, and I don't think we can address housing without understanding landlords.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/i-don-t-think-we-can-fix-poverty-without-fixing-housing-and-i-don-t/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [If we continue to tolerate this level of poverty in our cities, and go along with eviction as commonplace in poor neighborhoods, it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/if-we-continue-to-tolerate-this-level-of-poverty-in-our-cities-and-go/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [You see one eviction, and you're overcome, but then there's another one and another one and another one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/you-see-one-eviction-and-you-re-overcome-but-then-there-s-another-one/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [When I talk to booksellers, they tell me how hard it is to hand-sell some of my books because I do keep popping around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/when-i-talk-to-booksellers-they-tell-me-how-hard-it-is-to-hand-sell/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Housing being a top-order issue for cities is something that's not trivial.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/housing-being-a-top-order-issue-for-cities-is-something-that-s-not/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [I think that we value fairness in this country. We value equal opportunity. Without a stable home, those ideals really fall apart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/i-think-that-we-value-fairness-in-this-country-we-value-equal/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Exploitation. Now, there's a word that has been scrubbed out of the poverty debate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/exploitation-now-there-s-a-word-that-has-been-scrubbed-out-of-the/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [I think there are ways that graduate students can fact-check their work. I think there are ways that we can do this that don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/i-think-there-are-ways-that-graduate-students-can-fact-check-their/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Fire itself is very beautiful, and there's an attachment to fire that firefighters have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/fire-itself-is-very-beautiful-and-there-s-an-attachment-to-fire-that/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [“Sherrena nodded reassuringly and said, almost to herself, “I guess I got to stop feeling sorry for these people because nobody is feeling sorry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/sherrena-nodded-reassuringly-and-said-almost-to-herself-i-guess-i-got/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [Everywhere else, we are someone else, but at home, we remove our masks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/everywhere-else-we-are-someone-else-but-at-home-we-remove-our-masks/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [A community that sees so clearly its own disadvantage or its own hardships also has a harder time seeing its potential: its ability to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/a-community-that-sees-so-clearly-its-own-disadvantage-or-its-own/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [“It was once said that the poor are 'constantly exposed to evidence of their own irrelevance.' Especially for poor African-American families - who live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/it-was-once-said-that-the-poor-are-constantly-exposed-to-evidence-of/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [A universal voucher program would change the face of poverty in this country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/a-universal-voucher-program-would-change-the-face-of-poverty-in-this/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [“Wildland firefighters do not enjoy the cultural prestige that structural firefighters do. They do not wax their fire engines and cruise down the local…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/wildland-firefighters-do-not-enjoy-the-cultural-prestige-that/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) [Explore all 230 Matthew Desmond quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) ## More Housing quotes > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [If the Government put people before markets, it would build more council housing - a form of public investment in housing that pays for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-foster/if-the-government-put-people-before-markets-it-would-build-more/) [Dawn Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-foster/) > [Any trend that generates a lot of excitement encounters scepticism due to the bad experiences - internet and housing crashes - of the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathie-wood/any-trend-that-generates-a-lot-of-excitement-encounters-scepticism/) [Cathie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathie-wood/) > [Most of black America is in housing projects, without jobs, living on welfare. And this is not the case in 'The Cosby Show,' because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/most-of-black-america-is-in-housing-projects-without-jobs-living-on/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [When personal freedom's being abused, you have to move to limit it. That's what we did in the announcement I made last weekend on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/when-personal-freedom-s-being-abused-you-have-to-move-to-limit-it/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [I'm going to do whatever I have to do to help a New Yorker, whether it's a girl on the street or a tenant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-quinn/i-m-going-to-do-whatever-i-have-to-do-to-help-a-new-yorker-whether-it/) [Christine Quinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-quinn/) > [I don't think we can fix poverty without fixing housing, and I don't think we can address housing without understanding landlords.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/i-don-t-think-we-can-fix-poverty-without-fixing-housing-and-i-don-t/) [Matthew Desmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/) > [My entire history with the Navy have been trying to get the Navy to focus on families and child care and all the things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-schroeder/my-entire-history-with-the-navy-have-been-trying-to-get-the-navy-to/) [Patricia Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-schroeder/) > [The Hope, Love & Healing necklace is the perfect embodiment of what we are trying to bring to Haiti through safe and sustainable housing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-arquette/the-hope-love-healing-necklace-is-the-perfect-embodiment-of-what-we/) [Patricia Arquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-arquette/) > [Having spent years ruining the housing markets with their interference, leading to a housing meltdown that has taken the whole economy down with it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/having-spent-years-ruining-the-housing-markets-with-their/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [The people who are working, paying their taxes are put into the system so that affordable housing could be built in neighborhoods that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bolling/the-people-who-are-working-paying-their-taxes-are-put-into-the-system/) [Eric Bolling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bolling/) > [There's a major underlying idea as you grow up that you need to just save your money and get that affordable housing at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/there-s-a-major-underlying-idea-as-you-grow-up-that-you-need-to-just/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [A decline in the national housing price level would need to be substantial to trigger a significant rise in foreclosures, because the vast majority…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-greenspan/a-decline-in-the-national-housing-price-level-would-need-to-be/) [Alan Greenspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-greenspan/) > [In working class districts, you had several families living together in the one house, and it was very difficult to get a house, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hume/in-working-class-districts-you-had-several-families-living-together/) [John Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hume/) > [One of the great joys this year and the year before has been how all of the people in this body, men and women,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hayes/one-of-the-great-joys-this-year-and-the-year-before-has-been-how-all/) [Robin Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hayes/) [Browse all 780 Housing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/housing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Residential stability begets a kind of psychological stability, which allows people to invest in their home and social relationships. It begets school stability, which increases the chances that children will excel and graduate. And it begets community stability, which encourages neighbors to form strong bonds and take care of their block.7 But poor families enjoy little of that because they are evicted at such high rates. That low-income families move often is well known. Why they do is a question that has puzzled researchers and policymakers because they have overlooked the frequency of eviction in disadvantaged neighborhoods.8 Between 2009 and 2011, roughly a quarter of all moves undertaken by Milwaukee’s poorest renters were involuntary. Once you account for those dislocations (eviction, landlord foreclosure), low-income households move at a similar rate as everyone else.9 If you study eviction court records in other cities, you arrive at similarly startling numbers. Jackson County, Missouri, which includes half of Kansas City, saw 19 formal evictions a day between 2009 and 2013. New York City courts saw almost 80 nonpayment evictions a day in 2012. That same year, 1 in 9 occupied rental households in Cleveland, and 1 in 14 in Chicago, were summoned to eviction court.10 Instability is not inherent to poverty. Poor families move so much because they are forced to.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Matthew Desmond" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/residential-stability-begets-a-kind-of-psychological-stability-which/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Housing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/residential-stability-begets-a-kind-of-psychological-stability-which/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/matthew-desmond-1529_kansas-city_residential-stability-begets-a-kind-of-p_1536840.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/matthew-desmond-1529_kansas-city_residential-stability-begets-a-kind-of-p_1536840.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/736/matthew-desmond-1529_kansas-city_residential-stability-begets-a-kind-of-p_1536840.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Residential stability begets a kind of psychological stability, which allows people to invest in their home…” — Matthew Desmond", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Matthew Desmond", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-desmond/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Residential stability begets a kind of...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/residential-stability-begets-a-kind-of-psychological-stability-which/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-desmond/residential-stability-begets-a-kind-of-psychological-stability-which/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```