Matthew Desmond

“Just as incarceration has come to define the lives of low-income black men, eviction is defining the lives of low-income black women.”

“Poverty is not just a sad accident, but it's also a result of the fact that some people make a lot of money off low-income families and directly contribute to their poverty.”

“Everywhere else, we are someone else, but at home, we remove our masks.”

“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.”

“When I left Milwaukee, and I had all these stories. I felt so responsible for people. It's a heck of a thing to do, to try to write someone's story.”

“There is a reason so many Americans choose to develop their net worth through homeownership: It is a proven wealth builder and savings compeller.”

“Substandard housing was a blow to your psychological health, not only because things like dampness, mold, and overcrowding could bring about depression but also because of what living in awf...”

“If poverty persists in America, it is not for lack of resources. We lack something else.”

“Home is the center of life. It's the wellspring of personhood. It's where we say we're ourselves.”

“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...”

“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.”

“Healthcare providers have helped me see that decent, safe housing can promote physical and mental wellness; and engaged citizens have shown me the civic potential of stable, vibrant blocks w...”

“Most Americans think that the typical low - income family lives in public housing or gets housing assistance. The opposite is true.”

“I want my work to influence public conversation, to turn heads, and to bear witness to this problem that's raging in our cities. If journalism helps me with that, I'll draw on journalism......”

“What we're seeing is that even in high poverty neighborhoods, the average cost of renting is quickly approaching the total income of welfare recipients and low wage workers.”

“Losing a home sends families to shelters, abandoned houses, and the street.”

“Almost a decade removed from the foreclosure crisis that began in 2008, the nation is facing one of the worst affordable-housing shortages in generations.”

“I come from a specific tradition of sociology, which is urban ethnography.”

“I see myself working in the tradition of sociology and journalism that tries to bear witness to poverty.”

“I see myself writing in the tradition of urban ethnography and in the tradition of the sociology of poverty.”