The Impacts of Natural Disasters on Children Carolyn Kousky Resources for the Future.

March 13, 2015

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The Impacts of Natural Disasterson Children

Carolyn KouskyResources for the Future

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Chapter questions

• Do disasters have a disproportional impact on children?

• If so, what are those impacts?

• How long do the effects last?

• What can be done to mitigate the negative impacts?

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Outline

• Climate change and natural disasters• Disaster Impacts on Children

• Pathways• Comment on methods

• Health Impacts• Exposure in utero• Exposure in childhood• Long-term consequences

• Mental Health Impacts• Schooling Impacts

• Developed / Developing country studies

• Mitigation/Adaptation

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Climate Change and Natural Disasters

Source: US Climate Change Science Program; IPCC SREX

Disaster impacts on children

• Destruction of schools and health facilities• Destruction of HH assets or loss of income; required

increase in expenditures• Stress and trauma• Risk of abuse and neglect

• Living with risk ex-ante

Some notes on methods

• Underlying mechanisms not identified• Small samples, case studies, many short-run• OVB• Many studies do not have pre-disaster data• Could be sorting on ex-ante risk • Attrition from sample

Health impacts

• In Utero Exposure – some findings from hurricanes & heat waves

• Increase in risk for: low birth weight, delivery complications, abnormal conditions, reduced gestational age / preterm birth, worse apgar scores

• Impacts worse for more severe disaster experiences• Some times more sensitive, but variation in findings

• Childhood Exposure • Children can be at increased susceptibility for mortality• Children at higher risk for some diseases

• Respiratory, gastro-intestinal• Most focused on malnourishment in developing countries. Disaster

occurrence linked to:• Higher probability of being undernourished• Lower height-for-age Z scores• Higher risk of stunting and being underweight• Birth to 2 is a highly sensitive period

Health impacts

• Health facilities destroyed• Illness and injury from event untreated• Unrelated health problems not treated

• Lack of sanitation; lack of clean drinking water• Spread of infectious diseases• Dehydration

• Consumption shock; loss of crops• Reduced food consumption – malnourishment, deficiencies

• Traumatic event• Physical impacts of stress

Mental health impacts

• Prevalence• Higher rates of PTSD and other stress and anxiety

related mental health problems after a disaster• Determinants

• Aspects of exposure (e.g., magnitude of losses, perceived life threat)

• Child characteristics (e.g., age, gender, prior experiences)

• Social support (role of parents, for example)• Child coping responses (anger, positive coping

strategies…)

Schooling

• Destruction of schools• Poor health from disaster could impact schooling• Migration• Family shifts children from school to labor force to make up lost

income

• Developed country studies• Katrina studies – drop and then increase from improvement in school

quality• Hurricanes may have small impacts on test scores; likely returns to

pre-storm levels• Developing country studies

• Disasters tend to show a decrease in school attendance and increase in labor participation but varies by location and aspects of child

• Is there state dependence?

Mitigating negative impacts

• Climate change could make impacts worse; increase areas threatened by disasters

• Many areas face “adaptation deficit”• Strategies:

• Ex-ante• Hazard mitigation, particularly better building• Response plans• Non-disaster policies and safety nets

• Improved health care infrastructure• Access to credit• School enrollment subsidies and social insurance

• Best practices for response• Health interventions• Reunification• Special housing and shelter needs

Thank you.

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