General & Internal Medicine Life Sciences & Biomedicine Medicine, General & Internal Science & Technology
Evictions are distressingly common in the United States: over the past 2 decades, 6% to 7% of renting households have been evicted each year.1 Renters—particularly low-income, Black, and Latino renters, who face material hardship and housing discrimination shaped by structural racism—know evictions and their devastation intimately and have known for decades. Academia is newer to the subject: few academic publications focused on eviction before sociologist Matthew Desmond, PhD, released his book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City in 2016,2 inspiring public health researchers to document the many ways evictions impact health.