The effect of natural disasters on household economic hardship during a pandemic

Abstract

The year 2020 provided a rare opportunity to examine how US households experience economic hardship when natural disasters occur during a large‐scale public health crisis, such as the COVID‐19 pandemic. Using a nationally representative sample of adults, this study examines the effect of natural disasters on household economic hardships during a pandemic, measured by food insecurity, mortgage or rent delinquency, and unemployment. The study estimated individual fixed‐effect models after controlling for time trends and time‐variant covariates. We find that while a disaster incident in the community during a pandemic is not associated with household economic hardships in aggregate, its effects are experienced differently by people according to the community‐level severity of COVID‐19 and the individual‐level factors characterized as vulnerability and resilience. Our findings have implications for targeted disaster relief and for building resilience among residents to adverse events.

Social institutions as enablers and inhibitors of environmental activism: A cross‐cultural perspective

“…This burden is not shared equally: recent research shows that some populations are more resilient to experiencing these consequences than others. Examining the impact of the Covid‐19 pandemic, Lim et al (2022) identify discrepancies based on race and familial status and whether an individual experienced economic hardships or food insecurity.…”

“…A 2019 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) report produced by 250 experts suggests that without drastic improvements to climate protection, “cities and regions notably in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa could see millions of premature deaths by mid‐century.” The consequences of pollution and extreme weather are expensive—it is estimated that they will cost the United States $360 billion annually over the next decade. Moreover, the adverse impact of climate change is not shared equally, potentially widening inequality gaps, as they make individuals vulnerable due to displacement, loss of employment and property, trauma, food insecurity, injury and other health concerns, and disconnection from social networks, among others (e.g., Lim et al, 2022; Viswanathan et al, 2021). Therefore, climate change and its consequences are intricately linked to the well‐being of individuals, communities, and even nations due to their large‐scale impact.…”