The Protective Effects of Housing Assistance Programs on Eviction

Recent research by Desmond (2016) describes being evicted from one’s home as an ordinary experience for many low-income mothers in American cities. Involuntary removal from housing is considered a traumatic and shameful experience (Serby et al. 2006) that undermines health and causes additional material hardship (Desmond and Kimbro 2015). In response to this social problem, Desmond calls for a large expansion of housing assistance programs, which he predicts would “change the face of poverty in this country,” causing evictions to “plummet and become rare occurrences” (Desmond, 2016, p.308). More specifically, public housing and voucher assistance programs are likely to safeguard economically vulnerable families from eviction through rent subsidies (i.e., recipients’ rent payments are capped as a percentage of their household income) and greater legal protections (e.g., hardship exemptions, right to grievance hearings).