Let’s
address these issues head on
Address not only the wide wealth gap that natural
disasters bring to the forefront, but address the issue of the vulnerable
population and the mental health issues of long-term sheltering, returning individuals
back to their community, addressing the helplessness, and hopelessness
associated with disasters that are not only in the U.S. but globally.
Can social issues: such as homelessness, fear of evacuating
homes in times of known dangers, physical & mental health, land ownership,
and other issues be addressed as we rebuild our communities.
We can make the changes. Not later but now.
Charles D. Sharp
CEO
BEMA International
AMY MCCAIG. AUGUST 20, 2018
Rice U., University of Pittsburgh study also
finds FEMA aid increased inequality
Damage caused by natural disasters and recovery efforts launched in
their aftermaths have increased wealth inequality between races in the United
States, according to new research from Rice University and
the University of Pittsburgh.
“Damages Done: The Longitudinal Impacts of
Natural Hazards on Wealth Inequality in the United States” will
appear in an upcoming edition of Social Problems.
A supplement to the paper highlights the
wealth gap between whites and blacks attributable to natural disaster damage
from 1999 through 2013 in 20 U.S. counties.
Researchers Junia Howell, a scholar at Rice’s
Kinder Institute for Urban Research and an assistant professor of sociology
at the University of Pittsburgh and Jim Elliott, a professor of sociology at
Rice and fellow at Rice’s Kinder Institute combined longitudinal data from
nearly 3,500 families across the U.S. with governmental data on local natural
disaster damages, Federal Emergency Management Aid (FEMA) and demographics.
They followed these people from 1999 through 2013 as disaster damage of
varying scale struck counties where they lived, and examined how their
personal wealth was impacted.
“Last year the United States suffered more than
$260 billion in direct damages from natural disasters –mainly from hurricanes
Harvey, Irma and Maria,” said Howell, who was the study’s lead author. “And
there were also numerous wildfires, floods and tornadoes. Data show that
since
![]()
Supplement highlighting wealth gap between whites and
blacks attributable to natural disaster damage from
1999 through 2013 in 20 U.S. counties.
2000, approximately 99 percent of counties in
the U.S. have experienced significant damage from some type of natural
disaster, with costs expected to increase significantly over coming years. We
wanted to investigate how these damages impact wealth inequality and
accumulation.”
Whites who lived in counties with only $100,000
in damage from 1999 to 2013 gained an average of approximately $26,000 in
wealth. However, those who lived in counties with at least $10 billion in
damage during the same time period gained nearly $126,000, the paper said.
“In other words, whites living in counties
with considerable damage from natural disasters accumulate more wealth than
their white counterparts living in counties without major natural disaster
damage,” Howell said.
However, among blacks, Latinos and Asians, the
results went the other direction. Blacks who lived in counties with just
$100,000 in damage gained an estimated $19,000 in wealth on average, while
those living in counties with at least $10 billion in damage lost an
estimated $27,000. Latinos in counties with $100,000 in damage gained $72,000
on average, and those in areas with at least $10 billion in damage lost an
estimated $29,000. And Asians gained $21,000 on average and lost $10,000,
respectively. These differences occurred even after the researchers
controlled for a wide range of factors including age, education,
homeownership, family status, residential mobility, neighborhood status and
county population.
“Put another way, whites accumulate more wealth
after natural disasters while residents of color accumulate less,” Elliott
said. “What this means is wealth inequality is increasing in counties that
are hit by more disasters.”
The researchers were able to estimate by county
how much of the inequality is attributed to natural disasters. In Harris
County, Texas, the disaster-related increase in the black-white wealth gap,
on average, was $87,000.
The story does not stop there, Howell and
Elliott said. Counties that received more aid from the FEMA saw additional
increases in wealth inequality beyond that attributed to the natural
disasters themselves. For example, whites living in counties that received at
least $900 million in FEMA aid from 1999 to 2013 accumulated $55,000 more
wealth on average than otherwise similar whites living in counties that
received only $1,000 in aid. Conversely, blacks living in counties that
received at least $900 million in FEMA aid accumulated $82,000 less wealth on
average than otherwise similar blacks living in counties that received only
$1,000 in FEMA aid. Similarly, Latinos accumulated $65,000 less on average,
and other races (majority Asians) accumulated $51,000 less.
“It’s unclear why more FEMA aid is exacerbating
inequality,” Howell said. “More research is clearly needed. However, based on
previous work on disasters such as hurricanes Katrina and Harvey, we know
FEMA aid is not equitably distributed across communities. This is
particularly true when it comes to infrastructural redevelopment, which often
has profound effects on residents’ property appreciation and business
vitality.
When certain areas receive more redevelopment
aid and those neighborhoods also are primarily white, racial inequality is
going to be amplified.”
In addition to exacerbating racial wealth gaps,
the researchers found that after natural disasters wealth inequality also
increases based on home ownership. Individuals who
owned homes in counties that
experienced high levels of natural disaster damage accumulated $72,000 more
wealth on average than their counterparts in counties with few disasters. Renters, on the
other hand, lost $61,000 in wealth on average relative to renters in counties
with few natural disasters.
“Put another way, natural disasters were
responsible for a $133,000 increase in inequality between homeowners and
renters in the hardest hit counties,” Elliott said.
Similarly, college-educated residents
accumulated $111,000 more on average if they lived in a county that
experienced extreme disasters compared to their counterparts who did not live
through disasters. Conversely, those with only a 10th-grade education who
lived in counties that experienced extreme disasters lost $48,000 from
natural disaster damages on average when compared to counterparts who did not
live through disasters.
“In other words, in the counties with the most
damage, natural disasters are responsible for a $159,000 increase in the
educational wealth gap,” Howell said.
Howell and Elliott said the results indicate
that two major social challenges of our age – wealth inequality and rising
costs of natural disasters – are increasingly and dynamically connected. They
hope the research will encourage further examination of wealth inequality in
the U.S. and development of solutions to address the problem.
“The good news is that if we develop more
equitable approaches to disaster recovery, we can not only better tackle that
problem but also help build a more just and resilient society,” Howell and
Elliott concluded.
The researchers are now building on this work
by examining how local for-profit and nonprofit organizations influence
social inequality after natural disaster
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Charles
D. Sharp
Chief
Executive Officer
Black
Emergency Managers Association
International
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1231
Good Hope Road S.E.
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Washington,
D.C. 20020
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Office:
202-618-9097
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bEMA International
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Change without Sacrifice is an Illusion. Lisa Ellis
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