Justice

Why Jimmy Carter Believes Housing Is a Basic Human Right

Richard Florida talks to the former president about housing, Habitat for Humanity, and how government assistance enabled their current success.
President Jimmy Carter stands at the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project 2017 site in Edmonton, Canada.Habitat for Humanity

“A lot of people don't look at housing as a human right, but it is.”

That’s what former President Jimmy Carter told me when I spoke with him from the site of his latest Carter Work Project site in Edmonton, Canada. “To have a decent place to live is a basic human right. And also to have a chance to live in peace and to have adequate health care and adequate education, so you can take advantage of your talents,” he added.