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The Proximity of Disaster Experiences and Financial Preparedness for Emergencies in the US

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2022

Guanggang Feng Open the ORCID record for Guanggang Feng [Opens in a new window]  and
Zhen Cong Open the ORCID record for Zhen Cong [Opens in a new window]
Guanggang Feng
Affiliation:
School of Finance and Public Administration, Anhui University of Finance and Economics, Anhui, China
Zhen Cong*
Affiliation:
School of Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, USA
*
Corresponding author: Zhen Cong, Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Objective:

This study investigated how the proximity of disaster experience was associated with financial preparedness for emergencies.

Methods:

The data used were from the 2018 National Household Survey, which was administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The working sample included 4779 respondents.

Results:

Logistic Regression showed that the likelihood of setting aside emergency funds tended to be the highest between 2-5 years after experiencing a disaster, which declined slightly but persisted even after 16 years. Recent disaster experience within 1 year did not show a significant impact, indicating a period of substantial needs. However, the proximity of disaster experience did not significantly affect the amount of money set aside.

Conclusion:

It is suspected that increased risk perception related to previous experiences of disasters is more relevant to the likelihood of preparing financially; whereas other capacity-related factors such as income and having a disability have more effect on the amount of money set aside.

Keywords

emergency preparednessfinancial activitiesnatural disasterlife experiencesrisk assessment
Type
Brief Report
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 17 , 2023 , e257
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

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