Salvador Garcia - The Eviction Crisis

The Eviction Crisis

    The Eviction Crisis is happening all over America. Housing evictions are heavily impacted by low-income communities. The majority of low-income communities are minority groups (Latinx, African-Americans, etc.). Capitalism does not give enough pay to these low-income communities, causing families to move out of their housing and have nowhere to go. This has turned into a racial issue with the eviction crisis. In Washington's two most populous counties, eviction rates among black and Latinx adults are almost seven times higher than for white adults. Across the state of Virginia alone, roughly 60 percent of majority African American neighborhoods have an annual eviction rate higher than 10 percent of households — roughly four times the national average — even after controlling for poverty and income rates.

I chose this topic because no member from low-income communities should be worrying about their housing expenses when they can barely afford other bills and food. An average American works full-time (40 hours per week) for 5- 6 days. If a person works under the average working hours and paid minimum wage, the rent could barely be affordable along with the bills need. No American should be homeless and worry if they are going to live in the house or not. 

It is affecting me because I have family members who work hard 6 days out of the week, and still not have enough to afford the rent. As a result, my family members have a hard time to look for available housing in the most populated state in the United States (California). There should be more affordable housing for the low-communities to prevent these families to bounce around the state as it affects school life and work life.

"Landlords file an average of 166,337 eviction lawsuits annually in California, with a total of 499,010 households facing eviction in the three-year period. An estimated 1.5 million Californians faced court evictions over the last three years." (Arcaya, Jahn, Schnake-Mahl, [...] n.d.). 

The federal and state governments should prioritize helping their citizens to find affordable housing to prevent families from tearing apart and give little kids of these affected families the future they need to see.

Sources

McCoy, T. (2018, November 14). Eviction isn't just about poverty. It's also about race - and Virginia proves it. Retrieved November 01, 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/eviction-isnt-just-about-poverty-its-also-about-race--and-virginia-proves-it/2018/11/10/475be8ae-d7bd-11e8-aeb7-ddcad4a0a54e_story.html

Schnake-Mahl, A. S., Jahn, J. L., Subramanian, S. V., Waters, M. C., & Arcaya, M. (2020). Gentrification, neighborhood change, and population health: a systematic review. Journal of Urban Health, 97(1), 1-25.

UW study reveals gender, racial disparities in evictions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 01, 2020, from https://www.washington.edu/news/2020/02/10/uw-study-reveals-gender-racial-disparities-in-evictions/