The Voucher Promise: A Book Talk with Eva Rosen

Eva Rosen’s new book, “The Voucher Promise: ‘Section 8’ and the Fate of an American Neighborhood,” examines the Housing Choice Voucher Program and how it shapes the lives of families living in a Baltimore neighborhood called Park Heights. Rosen tells stories about the daily lives of homeowners, voucher holders, renters who receive no housing assistance, and the landlords who provide housing. While vouchers are a powerful tool with great promise, she demonstrates how the housing policy can replicate the very inequalities it has the power to solve.

This book talk, moderated by associate professor Michael Lens, discusses successes, failures and the role vouchers and other forms of housing assistance are playing during the COVID-19 pandemic and looming eviction crisis.

***** Eva Rosen is assistant professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. Her research focuses on social inequality in the urban context. In particular, she studies the intersection between poverty and American housing policy.

Book Info: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691172569/the-voucher-promise