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How Homeownership Became the Engine of American Inequality
Article

How Homeownership Became the Engine of American Inequality

Matthew Desmond
The New York Times, 2017
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8

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  • Analytical
  • Applicable
  • Eye Opening

Recommendation

Social Security. Medicaid. When it comes to federal aid, you’re most likely to think of programs that aid the poorest Americans. However, the US government channels billions of dollars in invisible aid to wealthy homeowners. As President Donald Trump cuts housing programs and poor renters struggle, it’s important to consider how the current system exacerbates inequality. Find insight and empathy in a thought-provoking exploration with Pulitzer Prize–winning author and sociologist Matthew Desmond. getAbstract recommends his analysis to curious policymakers and activists.

Summary

While the average American homeowner has a net worth of $195,400 – 36 times more than the average renter – US housing policy favors rich homeowners and ignores poor renters. One in four households that qualify receives rental assistance, and more than half of poor renters spend more than half their incomes on housing. In contrast, the federal government invested almost $134 billion in homeowner subsidies in 2015, more than the “budgets of the Departments of Education, Justice and Energy combined.” Like Social Security and Medicare, the mortgage...

About the Author

Author and sociologist Matthew Desmond wrote the Pulitzer Prize–winning book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City.

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