Disaster vulnerability is closely linked to poverty. On the one hand, poorer people are disproportionately more exposed to risks from weather-related events and harsh weather. On the other, vulnerable individuals and households may slide into poverty following disasters as they deplete savings and assets to rebuild their lives. While existing research demonstrates the significant economic and health costs of disasters, less is known about the wellbeing implications. This paper draws on the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey dataset to provide empirical insights into the wellbeing implications of natural disasters in the lives of Australians, with a particular focus on the role of income.
Our analysis revealed two main results. First, disasters have long-running impacts on individual wellbeing. We observed significantly lower life satisfaction and happiness after 18 months. While feelings of social connectedness were higher immediately after a disaster, this feeling declined after about 15 months. Second, we found that wellbeing losses from disasters disproportionately impacted people on low incomes. While the differences are not statistically significant, there is a gap between the wellbeing and happiness of individuals from low-income households who are affected and unaffected by disasters.
The findings underscore the need for adequate short and long-term support after disasters. Our results on wellbeing effects also underline the important role of organisations involved in disaster recovery to support individuals and families beyond the immediate aftermath. The response and recovery activities in the initial months likely enhance community resilience through increased connection and social interactions. This underscores the need for greater attention to fostering social connectedness in disaster recovery efforts. In terms of policy implications, our findings support the adoption of wellbeing impact as a useful measure to assess disaster severity.