The Eviction Crisis

December 3, 2018

Family homelessness is an American crisis: 2.5 million children will experience homelessness this year in the United States. 

The causes of family homelessness have a simple determinant—incomes have not kept pace with housing costs.    Since 1960, rents nationwide have risen by 61% while renters’ average incomes have only increased by 5%.   

Low income families are facing the worst housing crisis in generations.  Millions of poor households are spending     the majority of    their income just to meet their housing costs.  This toxic equation has caused the number of evictions nationwide to skyrocket.   


FINAL--AMERICA'S EVICTION CRISIS


mdesmond_thumbMatthew Desmond, author of the best-seller,    Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (2016), founded    The Eviction Lab    at Princeton University    in 2017    when he realized the need to collect national data on evictions to address fundamental questions about poverty in America. Understanding the sudden, traumatic loss of home through eviction is foundational to understanding poverty.

As Desmond says, “Eviction functions as a cause, not just a condition of poverty.”

The    videos linked out below tell the story of Eviction, putting faces to the cold, hard numbers of this epidemic.  Through sharing these stories,    we can begin to understand and effectively address eviction, homelessness, and poverty in America.  They are perfect complements to our national campaign at Family Promise to raise awareness of family homelessness as we ask, “What Does Home Mean to You?” 

https://youtu.be/7f9dqQBYjcA 

https://youtu.be/gXqNtHtUa1U 

https://youtu.be/Ql9nCwbLVfA 

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