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Flood Disasters and Health Among the Urban Poor

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  • Michelle Escobar Carias
  • David Johnston
  • Rachel Knott
  • Rohan Sweeney

Abstract

Billions of people live in urban poverty, with many forced to reside in disaster-prone areas. Research suggests that such disasters harm child nutrition and increase adult morbidity. However, little is known about impacts on mental health, particularly of people living in slums. In this paper we estimate the effects of flood disasters on the mental and physical health of poor adults and children in urban Indonesia. Our data come from the Indonesia Family Life Survey and new surveys of informal settlement residents. We find that urban poor populations experience increases in acute morbidities and depressive symptoms following floods, that the negative mental health effects last longer, and that the urban wealthy show no health effects from flood exposure. Further analysis suggests that worse economic outcomes may be partly responsible. Overall, the results provide a more nuanced understanding of the morbidities experienced by populations most vulnerable to increased disaster occurrence.

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  • Michelle Escobar Carias & David Johnston & Rachel Knott & Rohan Sweeney, 2021. "Flood Disasters and Health Among the Urban Poor," Papers 2111.05455, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2022.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2111.05455
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    1. Martin Hensher, 2023. "Climate change, health and sustainable healthcare: The role of health economics," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 985-992, May.

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