Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond. Matthew is a sociologist at Princeton University. He is also the principal investigator of the Eviction Lab.
Evicted was the 2017 winner of the Pulitzer Prize, In addition, Time Magazine named Evicted one of the ten best nonfiction books of the decade.
Matthew follows eight families across greater Milwaukee who indeed are struggling to live in apartments. For many readers, Evicted should dramatically change our country’s limited understanding of real poverty, impacting both Caucasian and African American families. One can only imagine the acceleration of evictions since COVID derailed the economy.
It is certainly remarkable to be living in Milwaukee and being able to see the apartments around the greater Milwaukee area in person on trips. Some small cities outside Milwaukee including Cudahy are also written into family stories.
Furthermore, Matthew documents that a common notion is that rent should equate to 30 percent of income. However multiple stories of families reveal they are spending up to 80 percent of income on rent. This certainly leaves so many with almost no money for food, clothing, or basic amenities.
In addition, Evicted reveals how anyone can be impacted, a male nurse earning $80,000/year became addicted to pain killers. He lost his job and became yet another individual struggling to pay his rent.
Downstream impacts
In addition, these children ultimately see adults around them (family, a parent’s co-worker, or adult social relationships) and learn how to react. In addition, one storyline includes the life of a landlord and the long accepted strategies that leverage Milwaukee County Sheriffs to enforce eviction notices.
Milwaukee is a large city, but the scale of evictions for New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, San Antonio, and even your hometown will come into greater focus after reading this book. A wonderfully written examination of how this impacts multiple metro areas can be found in Richard Rothstein’s The Color of Law.
In conclusion, Evicted is one of the most powerful and insightful books that anyone could read about the city they are living and working in today. Evicted should indeed be mandatory reading as it is utterly unforgiving and unforgettable.
Book Website: https://evictedbook.com/