A home provides refuge and serves as a fortress. Every individual deserves to have that basic need, a place to call “home.” In Evicted, author, professor, and sociologist Matthew Desmond argues that at home, we can “be ourselves” while everywhere else, we are someone else. At home, we remove our masks and home provides the wellspring of personhood. Desmond argues that at home identity takes root and blossoms. For children, home is a place to imagine, play, and question. For adolescents, the home provides a safe space to retreat and try new things. As we age, we hope to settle into a comfortable home to raise a family or pursue work. When we try to understand ourselves, we often begin by considering the kind of home in which we were raised.”
Desmond proposes the government fund a Universal Housing Voucher which would satisfy housing for the poor and provide profits for the rich. Housing is a basic human need, yet many Americans are living in poverty and experiencing “material hardship,” a sociological term for eviction. In 2008, Desmond began his dissertation research on poverty where he focused on both impoverished individuals and the wealthy. In order to understand the complex relationships, he was observing in the data he identified eviction as a process that bound poverty and profits together in mutual dependence and struggle.
Desmond relocated to Milwaukee’s poorest areas and studied the relationship between the rich and the poor. In his study, he examined eight families and two landlords for one year. His project, the Milwaukee Area Renters Study (MARS) was funded by the MacArthur Foundation. Roughly 1,100 tenants were interviewed in their homes between 2009 and 2011. Desmond found that the government implemented several programs to alleviate eviction but the voucher program appears to be the most effective.
Strategies for developing and implementing solutions for the material hardship of eviction changed trajectories as the years progressed. During the Great Depression, a landlord would provide a notice of eviction and your belongings would then be placed on the curb if you did not remove them. In later years, after a notice of eviction, a landlord would provide two options: leave the tenants’ possessions on the curb or place tenants’ possessions in storage.
In an attempt to meet housing needs for low-income families the government began building housing projects. Not long after came to a voucher system allowing low-income families to live in more diverse neighborhoods and buildings. The tenant paid 30% of the rent and the government paid the landlord the remaining 70%. This voucher program was more beneficial than other housing programs and while it did not eliminate evictions, they were reduced. The voucher program has stipulations and strenuous guidelines landlords must follow including inspections and strict deadlines for repairs. Landlords have protested against the program’s strict guidelines.
The government claims the voucher program is unaffordable and will cost trillions of dollars. However, the government spends much more on homeowner tax benefits for affluent families than on housing assistance to poor families. Perhaps funds can be redirected and with a few modifications, like improving the inspection process, incentivizing repairs, and reducing discrimination against families with multiple children, the program can flourish.
Desmond stresses that in order to address evictions the government must step in and solve the housing problem. In order to get the government’s attention, individual must help themselves. Citizens must vote to change the fair housing regulations. It has been reported that individuals of a lower Social Economic Status do not vote. Americans marched and mobilized to have the right to vote. Voting is the method society offers to its citizens to communicate with the government. Voting is powerful and it is a privilege for all Americans. To vote is to change the conditions in society. Politicians listen to those who vote for them, choose to elect the representative to reflect your values, elect officials who care about you and choose policies to invest in one’s needs, such as housing.
“Sherrena Tarver, landlord, inner-city entrepreneur, states, “The ’hood is good. There’s a lot of money there.” Meanwhile, programs for the poor are being cut, and evictions prevail and the landlord’s profits increase.
Evicted, by Matthew Desmond is raw. The unveiling of the lives of these eight families is heartbreaking. These stories are painful to read but necessary to know. I recommend you read this book as the insight gained may change your perspective and help you to develop a greater understanding of poverty in America, and join, Desmond’s quest for a government Universal Voucher program is not only possible but necessary. Vote!
Matthew Desmond is a sociology professor at Princeton University and the 2017 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Non-Fiction.
***This book is on President Barack Obama’s reading list.
