The poor don't want some small life. They don't want to game the system. They want to contribute, and they want to thrive. But poverty reduces people born for better things. Matthew Desmond More Quotes by Matthew Desmond More Quotes From Matthew Desmond I immediately didn't think it was real, then someone reads you what they wrote about you. Matthew Desmond living I don't think that you can address poverty unless you address the lack of affordable housing in the cities. Matthew Desmond think you housing poverty Eviction comes with a record. Just like a criminal record can hurt you in the jobs market, eviction can hurt you in the housing market. A lot of landlords turn folks away who have an eviction, and a lot of public housing authorities do the same. Matthew Desmond just like you hurt Housing is absolutely essential to human flourishing. Without stable shelter, it all falls apart. Matthew Desmond without human housing shelter Home is where children find safety and security, where we find our identities, where citizenship starts. It usually starts with believing you're part of a community, and that is essential to having a stable home. Matthew Desmond you community home children Fire itself is very beautiful, and there's an attachment to fire that firefighters have. Matthew Desmond firefighters very fire beautiful Evictions cause job loss. Because it's such a destabilizing, stressful event, they lose their footing in the labor market. It has big impacts on people's health, especially mental health. Matthew Desmond lose job health people A lot of us who grew up in the country, hunting and fishing, being very familiar with the woods and dirt roads, have the skill set you need to fight fire. Matthew Desmond roads fight you fire A community that sees so clearly its own disadvantage or its own hardships also has a harder time seeing its potential: its ability to work together to change the community and change their lives. Matthew Desmond change together work time A fire in a forest is alive with terror and power. Matthew Desmond forest alive power fire The standard of 'affordable' housing is that which costs roughly 30 percent or less of a family's income. Because of rising housing costs and stagnant wages, slightly more than half of all poor renting families in the country spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing costs, and at least one in four spends more than 70 percent. Matthew Desmond more family poor country Payday loans are but one of many financial techniques - from overdraft fees to student loans subsidizing for-profit colleges - specifically designed to pull money from the pockets of the poor. This problem generally goes unrecognized by policy makers. Matthew Desmond student poor money problem Home is the wellspring of personhood, where our identity takes root; where civic life begins. America is supposed to be a place where you can better yourself, your family, and your community. Matthew Desmond you family home life Many times when we are talking about displacement, we talk about it within the frame of gentrification, which focuses on transitioning neighborhoods. But man, every city I've looked at, Milwaukee included, most evictions are right there, smack dab in ungentrifying, poor, segregated communities. Matthew Desmond city man poor talking There is a reason so many Americans choose to develop their net worth through homeownership: It is a proven wealth builder and savings compeller. Matthew Desmond choose worth wealth reason Home is the center of life. It's the wellspring of personhood. It's where we say we're ourselves. Matthew Desmond say where home life A lot flows from the question: Is having decent, stable housing part of what it means to live in this country? And I think we should answer 'yes.' Matthew Desmond answer live think country If I wrote in Jacob Riis' time, I'd be writing about teeming slums in our cities and kids dying of tuberculosis or outhouses in Philadelphia or kids losing their toes because they were living in homes without heat. He took on a battle in 'The Battle with the Slums' - and we won. Matthew Desmond battle losing writing time Exploitation. Now, there's a word that has been scrubbed out of the poverty debate. Matthew Desmond out now debate poverty The home is the center of life - a refuge from the grind of work, pressure of school, menace of the streets, a place to be ourselves. Matthew Desmond work home life school
