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
Eviction is much more an inevitability than a result of irresponsibility.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Eviction is often caused by systemic issues rather than individual failings.
In this quote, Matthew Desmond suggests that evictions are frequently the result of broader societal and economic forces rather than mere irresponsibility of individuals. He emphasizes that many people facing eviction are caught in circumstances caused by systemic inequality, highlighting the need to understand the larger context of housing instability in society.
Themes
EvictionInevitabilityResponsibilitySocietySystemic Issues
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about housing policy, one might quote Desmond to emphasize the need for reform.
More from Matthew Desmond
All quotes →Do 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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