Synopsis

Harvard sociologist Matthew Desmond spent years living in Milwaukee's poorest neighborhoods, documenting the lives of eight families as they struggled with eviction and housing instability. Through intimate portraits of tenants like Arleen, a single mother trying to keep her family together while moving from apartment to apartment, and landlords like Sherrena, who owns dozens of properties in the inner city, Desmond reveals how eviction has become a routine part of life for America's poor. His groundbreaking research shows that eviction is not just a condition of poverty but a cause of it, trapping families in a cycle of housing instability that affects everything from children's education to adults' employment prospects. The book follows families through the exhausting process of finding new housing after eviction, often settling for increasingly substandard conditions at higher rents. Desmond explores how the lack of affordable housing has created a system where landlords can profit from desperation while tenants spend the majority of their income on rent for deteriorating properties. He documents the ripple effects of eviction on entire communities, showing how housing instability contributes to job loss, school disruption, and family separation. Through rigorous sociology and compassionate storytelling, Evicted exposes one of America's most pressing social problems while arguing that stable, affordable housing is essential to ending poverty.