scholarly journals As Disaster Costs Rise, So Does Inequality

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 237802311881679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junia Howell ◽  
James R. Elliott

Across the United States, communities are experiencing increases in the frequency and severity of natural hazards. The pervasiveness and upward trajectory of these damages are worrisome enough, but equally disconcerting are the social inequalities they can leave in their wake. To examine these inequalities, the authors linked county-level damage data to a random sample of American households. The authors visualize the pervasiveness of natural hazards as well as their influence on racial wealth gaps over time. The results show that natural hazard damages and how relief is provided afterward exacerbate the growing gap between white and black wealth.

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (29) ◽  
pp. eaba5908
Author(s):  
Nick Turner ◽  
Kaveh Danesh ◽  
Kelsey Moran

What is the relationship between infant mortality and poverty in the United States and how has it changed over time? We address this question by analyzing county-level data between 1960 and 2016. Our estimates suggest that level differences in mortality rates between the poorest and least poor counties decreased meaningfully between 1960 and 2000. Nearly three-quarters of the decrease occurred between 1960 and 1980, coincident with the introduction of antipoverty programs and improvements in medical care for infants. We estimate that declining inequality accounts for 18% of the national reduction in infant mortality between 1960 and 2000. However, we also find that level differences between the poorest and least poor counties remained constant between 2000 and 2016, suggesting an important role for policies that improve the health of infants in poor areas.


2021 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 67-78
Author(s):  
Kevin Summers ◽  
Linda Harwell ◽  
Andrea Lamper ◽  
Courtney McMillon ◽  
Kyle Buck ◽  
...  

Using a Cumulative Resilience Screening Index (CRSI) that was developed to represent resilience to natural hazards at multiple scales for the United States, the U.S. coastal counties of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) region of the United States are compared for resilience for these types of natural hazards. The assessment compares the domains, indicators and metrics of CRSI, addressing environmental, economic and societal aspects of resilience to natural hazards at county scales. The index was applied at the county scale and aggregated to represent states and two regions of the U.S. GOM coastline. Assessments showed county—level resilience in all GOM counties was low, generally below the U.S. average. Comparisons showed higher levels of resilience in the western GOM region while select counties in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama exhibited the lowest resilience (<2.0) to natural hazards. Some coastal counties in Florida and Texas represented the highest levels of resilience seen along the GOM coast. Much of this increased resilience appears to be due to higher levels of governance and broader levels of social, economic and ecological services.


2019 ◽  
Vol 111 (8) ◽  
pp. 863-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana R Withrow ◽  
Amy Berrington de González ◽  
Susan Spillane ◽  
Neal D Freedman ◽  
Ana F Best ◽  
...  

Abstract Disparities in cancer mortality by county-level income have increased. It is unclear whether these widening disparities have affected older and younger adults equally. National death certificate data were utilized to ascertain cancer deaths during 1999–2015. Average annual percent changes in mortality rates and mortality rate ratios (RRs) were estimated by county-level income quintile and age (25–64 vs ≥65 years). Among 25- to 64-year-olds, cancer mortality rates were 30% higher (RR = 1.30, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.29 to 1.31) in the lowest-vs the highest-income counties in 1999–2001 and 56% higher (RR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.55 to 1.57) in 2013–2015; the disparities among those 65 years and older were smaller but also widened over time (RR1999–2001 = 1.04, 95% CI = 1.03 to 1.05; RR2013–2015 = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.13 to 1.14). Widening disparities occurred across cancer sites. If all counties had the mortality rates of the highest-income counties, 21.5% of cancer deaths among 25- to 64-year-olds and 7.3% of cancer deaths in those 65 years and older would have been avoided in 2015. These results highlight an ongoing need for equity-focused interventions, particularly among younger adults.


Author(s):  
Kathleen C. Oberlin

Through a close historical examination of archived newsletters (1963-2007) from four different creationist organizations, this chapter traces potential sites Answers in Genesis might have built instead to reach and influence a broader public such as a college or a research center among other strategies. In light of these available alternatives, it shows how the museum emerged over time when Young Earth Creationists shifted the focus of the social movement away from Old Earth Creationism, advanced effective leaders who reassessed previous movement actions, and adapted to the sociocultural as well as political environment of the 1970s and 1980s. It argues the rise of Answers in Genesis as an organization and its tactical decision to build a museum only came as a surprise because scholars were previously limited to examining political opportunities and legislation advanced by the movement.


2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary Miller ◽  
Norman Schofield

Because the space of policies is two-dimensional, parties in the United States are coalitions of opposed interests. The Republican Party contains both socially conservative and socially liberal groups, though both tend to be pro-business. The increasing dominance of the social conservatives has angered some prominent Republicans, even causing a number of them to change party allegiance. Over time, the decreasing significance of the economic axis may cause the Republican Party to adopt policies that are analogous to those proposed by William Jennings Bryan in 1896: populist and anti-business. In parallel, the Democratic Party will increasingly appeal to pro-business, social liberals, so the party takes on the mantel of Lincoln.


2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 262-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Annan ◽  
Wolfram Schlenker

Despite significant progress in average yields, the sensitivity of corn and soybean yields to extreme heat has remained relatively constant over time. We combine county-level corn and soybeans yields in the United States from 1989-2013 with the fraction of the planting area that is insured under the federal crop insurance program, which expanded greatly over this time period as premium subsidies increased from 20 percent to 60 percent. Insured corn and soybeans are significantly more sensitive to extreme heat that uninsured crops. Insured farmers do not have the incentive to engage in costly adaptation as insurance compensates them for potential losses.


Author(s):  
Zachary Parolin ◽  
Rosa Daiger von Gleichen

AbstractThis chapter investigates the diversity and divergence of three sets of family policy indicators across the 50 United States: money, services, and time. Our findings show that the 50 United States vary considerably in their family policy packages. States have become more dissimilar over time with respect to social assistance transfers and statutory minimum wages, but have become more similar in their subsidization of low-pay employment. Moreover, states vary greatly in their levels of support for early childhood education and healthcare. State-level variation in out-of-pocket medical spending has more than doubled from 1980 to 2015, in large part due to some states deciding to expand Medicaid access from 2009 onward. Despite large diversity and some divergence in states’ family policy packages, post-tax/transfer poverty rates have remained relatively stable over time. This is partially due to an increase in federally funded transfer programs mitigating the social consequences of state-level diversity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 448-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junia Howell ◽  
James R Elliott

Abstract This study investigates a largely ignored contributor to wealth inequality in the United States: damages from natural hazards, which are expected to increase substantially in coming years. Instead of targeting a specific large-scale disaster and assessing how different subpopulations recover, we begin with a nationally representative sample of respondents from the restricted, geocoded Panel Study of Income Dynamics. We follow them through time (1999–2013) as hazard damages of varying scales accrue in the counties where they live. This design synthesizes the longitudinal, population-centered approach common in stratification research with a broad hazard-centered focus that extends beyond disasters to integrate ongoing environmental dynamics more centrally into the production of social inequality. Results indicate that as local hazard damages increase, so does wealth inequality, especially along lines of race, education, and homeownership. At any given level of local damage, the more aid an area receives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the more this inequality grows. These findings suggest that two defining social problems of our day – wealth inequality and rising natural hazard damages – are dynamically linked, requiring new lines of research and policy making in the future.


Author(s):  
Yonaira M. Rivera ◽  
Otis W. Brawley

Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the United States. Social and structural inequalities and poor public health infrastructure, low-quality treatment, and lack of patient engagement in health-related decision-making increase the cancer burden among some populations. This chapter details ethical challenges to alleviating the cancer burden due to these health disparities from a public health perspective. Specific challenges relate to the just distribution of resources (resource allocation), balancing clinician judgment with respect for patient autonomy, medical paternalism, and reducing the social inequalities that contribute to disparities in cancer diagnosis and outcomes. This chapter discusses these challenges in relation to cancer prevention, screening, and treatment. The focus is on the United States, but many of the issues raised are relevant to other high-income countries.


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