Note: This program originally aired July 24, 2023.
The United States is the richest country in the world. And yet, in 2021, almost 38 million Americans were living in poverty — 11.6% of the country.
How can so many Americans live in poverty while the U.S. has a GDP of $22.996 trillion?
Sociologist Matthew Desmond points to a number of factors in his book, "Poverty, By America." From the tax code to the housing market to the exploitation of undocumented workers, he argues the problems are systemic and embedded into American life.
He also notes the problems are exacerbated by smaller issues, like mortgage tax breaks or zoning laws that don’t allow for cheaper housing.
Solutions, he writes, involve expanding the social safety net, and becoming a "poverty abolitionist," which “entails conducting an audit of our lives, personalizing poverty by examining all the ways we are connected to the problem — and to the solution.”
Desmond is also the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book, "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City." It analyzed a similar problem in America: housing.
He joined Mike Collins to discuss his new book and the myriad ways poverty, housing and social inequities are the driving force of many Americans' lives.
GUEST
Matthew Desmond, professor of sociology at Princeton University, principal investigator at The Eviction Lab, and author of four books, including "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City." His latest book is "Poverty, By America."