tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/low-income-16346/articlesLow-income – The Conversation2024-02-07T13:12:18Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2200312024-02-07T13:12:18Z2024-02-07T13:12:18ZPower outages leave poor communities in the dark longer: Evidence from 15M outages raises questions about recovery times<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573708/original/file-20240206-24-a4nh4l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C7%2C5168%2C3437&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Low-income communities often have a longer wait for electricity to come back after outages.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/457a5faae7c84a23947a3e781c5ce4a3">AP Photo/Gerald Herbert</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Electricity is essential to just about everyone – rich and poor, old and young. Yet, when severe storms strike, socioeconomically disadvantaged communities often wait longest to recover.</p>
<p>That isn’t just a perception.</p>
<p>We analyzed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad295">data from over 15 million consumers</a> in 588 U.S. counties who lost power when hurricanes made landfall between January 2017 and October 2020. The results show that poorer communities did indeed wait longer for the lights to go back on.</p>
<p>A 1-decile drop in socioeconomic status in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s <a href="https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/placeandhealth/svi/index.html">social vulnerability index</a> was associated with a 6.1% longer outage on average. This corresponds to waiting an extra 170 minutes on average for power to be restored, and sometimes much longer. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two maps of the southeastern U.S. show a correlation between outages and social vulnerability." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573707/original/file-20240206-24-n9l871.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573707/original/file-20240206-24-n9l871.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573707/original/file-20240206-24-n9l871.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573707/original/file-20240206-24-n9l871.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=784&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573707/original/file-20240206-24-n9l871.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=985&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573707/original/file-20240206-24-n9l871.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=985&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573707/original/file-20240206-24-n9l871.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=985&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The top map shows the total duration of power outages over eight storms by county. The lower map is a comparison with socioeconomic status taken into account, showing that counties with lower average socioeconomic status have longer outages than expected.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/2/10/pgad295/7286530">Ganz et al, 2023, PNAS Nexus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Implications for policy and utilities</h2>
<p>One likely reason for this disparity is written into utilities’ <a href="https://www.publicpower.org/system/files/documents/Restoration_Best_Practices_Guidebook_2018.pdf">standard storm recovery policies</a>. Often, these polices prioritize critical infrastructure first when restoring power after an outage, then large commercial and industrial customers. They next seek to recover as many households as they can as quickly as possible.</p>
<p>While this approach may seem procedurally fair, these recovery routines appear to have an unintended effect of often making vulnerable communities wait longer for electricity to be restored. One <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218883">reason may be</a> that these communities are farther from critical infrastructure, or they may be predominantly in older neighborhoods where power infrastructure requires more significant repairs.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A store in Austin, Texas, is closed during a widespread power outage amid a winter cold snap in 2021." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573641/original/file-20240206-23-lotgsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573641/original/file-20240206-23-lotgsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573641/original/file-20240206-23-lotgsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573641/original/file-20240206-23-lotgsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573641/original/file-20240206-23-lotgsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573641/original/file-20240206-23-lotgsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573641/original/file-20240206-23-lotgsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Commercial areas are often higher on the priority list for faster power recovery in an outage. This store was still closed for several days during Texas’ widespread outages in 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sign-states-that-a-fiesta-mart-is-closed-because-of-a-power-news-photo/1231222415?adppopup=true">Montinique Monroe/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>The upshot is that households that are <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/hurricanes-hit-the-poor-the-hardest/">already at greater risk</a> from severe weather – whether due to being in flood-prone areas or in vulnerable buildings – and those who are least likely to have insurance or other resources to help them recover are also likely to face the longest storm-caused power outages. Long outages can mean refrigerated food goes bad, no running water and delays in repairing damage, including delays in running fans to dry out water damage and avoid mold.</p>
<p>Our study spanned 108 service regions, including investor-owned utilities, cooperatives and public utilities. The differential impact on poorer communities did not line up with any particular storm, region or individual utility. We also found no correlation with race, ethnicity or housing type. Only average socioeconomic level stood out.</p>
<h2>How to make power recovery less biased</h2>
<p>There are ways to improve power recovery times for everyone, beyond the necessary work of improving the stability of power distribution.</p>
<p>Policymakers and utilities can start by reexamining power restoration practices and power infrastructure maintenance, such as replacing aging utility poles and trimming trees, with disadvantaged communities in mind.</p>
<p>Power providers already have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joule.2021.07.006">granular data on power usage</a> and <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=9913670">grid performance in their service regions</a>. They can begin experimenting with alternative recovery routines that consider the vulnerability of their customers in ways that do not substantially affect average recovery duration.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two men look at cell phones in the dark on a porch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573650/original/file-20240206-19-b8ktkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573650/original/file-20240206-19-b8ktkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573650/original/file-20240206-19-b8ktkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573650/original/file-20240206-19-b8ktkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573650/original/file-20240206-19-b8ktkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573650/original/file-20240206-19-b8ktkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573650/original/file-20240206-19-b8ktkh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People in some Fort Myers, Fla., neighborhoods still lacked water and electricity more than a week after Hurricane Ian in 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sign-states-that-a-fiesta-mart-is-closed-because-of-a-power-news-photo/1231222415?adppopup=true">Montinique Monroe/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For socioeconomically <a href="https://atlas.eia.gov/pages/04021248819144108b36cbf27327d11c">vulnerable regions</a> that are likely to experience long outages because of their locations and possibly the aging energy infrastructure, utilities and policymakers can proactively ensure that households are well prepared to evacuate or have access to backup sources of power.</p>
<p>For example, the U.S. Department of Energy announced in October 2023 that it would invest in <a href="https://www.energy.gov/gdo/articles/keeping-lights-our-neighborhoods-during-power-outages">developing dozens of resilience hubs and microgrids</a> to help supply local power to key buildings within communities when the wider grid goes down. Louisiana plans several of these hubs, using solar and large-scale batteries, in or near disadvantaged communities.</p>
<p>Policymakers and utilities can also invest in broader energy infrastructure and renewable energy in these vulnerable communities. The U.S. Department of Energy’s <a href="https://www.energy.gov/justice/justice40-initiative">Justice40 program</a> directs that 40% of the benefit from certain federal energy, transportation and housing investments benefit disadvantaged communities. That may help residents who need public help the most.</p>
<p>Severe weather events are <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-intensifying-the-water-cycle-bringing-more-powerful-storms-and-flooding-heres-what-the-science-shows-187951">becoming more common</a> as <a href="https://theconversation.com/2023s-billion-dollar-disasters-list-shattered-the-us-record-with-28-big-weather-and-climate-disasters-amid-earths-hottest-year-on-record-220634">global temperatures rise</a>. That increases the need for better planning and approaches that don’t leave low-income residents in the dark.</p>
<p><em>Chenghao Duan, a Ph.D. student at Georgia Tech, also contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220031/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Researchers tracked power outages after 8 major storms to see how wealth corresponded to recovery time.Chuanyi Ji, Associate Professor of Engineering, Georgia Institute of TechnologyScott C. Ganz, Associate Teaching Professor of Business and Economics, Georgetown UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2080982023-07-18T12:30:50Z2023-07-18T12:30:50ZUsing green banks to solve America’s affordable housing crisis – and climate change at the same time<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537145/original/file-20230712-27-meeok5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C40%2C3360%2C2198&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Retrofitting apartment buildings for energy efficiency and solar power can boost affordable housing and climate protection.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/MassachusettsHomelessness/dc1bf7dbd28142cd8f57bb483203dbce/photo">AP Photo/Steven Senne</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Green banks are starting to draw attention in the U.S., particularly since the federal government <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/biden-harris-administration-launches-historic-20-billion-grant-competitions-create">announced its first grant competitions</a> under a national green bank program to bring clean technology and more affordable energy to low-income communities.</p>
<p>But installing more solar and wind electricity generation isn’t the only way <a href="https://www.oecd.org/environment/green-investment-banks.htm">green banks</a> can help. </p>
<p>Massachusetts is launching an innovative new green bank that could become a model as states try to manage two crises at once: lack of affordable housing and climate change.</p>
<p>While most green banks focus on clean energy, the <a href="https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H2894">Massachusetts Community Climate Bank</a> is specifically designed to boost the state’s stock of sustainable, affordable housing. It comes at an opportune time: States can now tap into billions of dollars in new federal funding for green banks under the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/cleanenergy/inflation-reduction-act-guidebook/">Inflation Reduction Act</a>.</p>
<p>So what exactly is a green bank, and how might it work for sustainable housing?</p>
<h2>What is a green bank?</h2>
<p>Despite the name, green banks aren’t traditional banks. They function more like investment funds with a mission to promote sustainability.</p>
<p>Green banks are public, quasi-public or nonprofit entities that use public funds to encourage private investment in low-carbon, climate-resilient infrastructure. </p>
<p>By using innovative <a href="https://coalitionforgreencapital.com/what-is-a-green-bank/green-bank-techniques/">financing strategies</a>, green banks can lower the risks for private investors to support projects, which reduces the amount of public money needed to reach government goals like expanding renewable energy or, in this case, affordable housing.</p>
<h2>Green banks across the US</h2>
<p>The U.S. had <a href="https://mcusercontent.com/3e3337737c870aa879b2ef144/files/58657110-26b4-3ee5-a3e4-45fda1bb6594/CGC_Consortium_AnnualReport.01.pdf">about two dozen green banks</a> operating in early 2023 in at least 18 states and the District of Columbia – most of them focused on accelerating the transition from fossil fuel use to clean energy. And more were being developed.</p>
<p>In 2022, those banks used US$1.51 billion of public money to <a href="https://mcusercontent.com/3e3337737c870aa879b2ef144/files/58657110-26b4-3ee5-a3e4-45fda1bb6594/CGC_Consortium_AnnualReport.01.pdf">mobilize $3.12 billion in private investment</a>. Since 2011, they have brought in a total of $14.8 billion.</p>
<p><iframe id="8dLGf" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8dLGf/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Each bank is slightly different. <a href="https://www.ctgreenbank.com/">Connecticut’s</a> was the first state-run green bank in the U.S. It started with a renewable energy focus but expanded to include sustainable infrastructure, climate resilience, water, waste and recycling projects. <a href="https://michigansaves.org/news/press-release-michigan-invests-1-5-million-in-michigans-green-bank/">Michigan</a> created a nonprofit green bank called <a href="https://michigansaves.org/">Michigan Saves</a> that provides financing for energy efficiency. <a href="https://gems.hawaii.gov/">Hawaii’s</a> state-run green bank boosts solar energy use. </p>
<p>At the local level, Maryland’s <a href="https://www.marylandmatters.org/2022/05/27/its-not-that-easy-being-a-green-bank-in-maryland-but-its-getting-easier/">Montgomery County</a> has been financing rooftop and community solar, energy efficiency and electric vehicle charging infrastructure through a green bank since 2016. </p>
<p><a href="https://financenola.org/news/fano-changes-its-business-model-to-address-climate-change">Finance New Orleans</a> is a particularly instructive comparison – the 40-year-old housing finance agency recently transitioned to a climate-oriented business model to finance energy efficiency, stormwater management and green infrastructure projects for homeowners, businesses and local governments.</p>
<h2>A green bank for sustainable housing</h2>
<p>The new <a href="https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H2894">Massachusetts Community Climate Bank</a> is solely dedicated to climate-friendly and resilient affordable housing to meet the goals of the state’s <a href="https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-clean-energy-and-climate-plan-for-2050">Climate Plan for 2050</a>. </p>
<p>That might include upgrading insulation and windows in older housing complexes to make them less leaky on hot and cold days, transitioning to electric household appliances such as heat pumps or adding solar panels and electric vehicle chargers.</p>
<p>Residential buildings are one of Massachusetts’ <a href="https://www.mass.gov/doc/clean-energy-and-climate-plan-for-2025-and-2030/download">largest sources</a> of greenhouse emissions, accounting for 19% of the total. Making housing more sustainable would cut those emissions and also help cut emissions in other sectors. For example, rooftop solar panels can reduce the demand for electricity from natural gas-fired power plants, allowing the state to close the plants or run them less often.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A row of apartments that look like townhouses lines a street. A similar row is on the hill behind them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537430/original/file-20230714-29-yv3zo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537430/original/file-20230714-29-yv3zo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537430/original/file-20230714-29-yv3zo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537430/original/file-20230714-29-yv3zo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537430/original/file-20230714-29-yv3zo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537430/original/file-20230714-29-yv3zo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537430/original/file-20230714-29-yv3zo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An affordable housing development in Chelsea, Mass., a Boston suburb that has been under pressure from rising housing prices.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/highland-terrace-on-gerrish-ave-a-larger-newer-affordable-news-photo/1230261200">David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>The challenge is that the finance industry tends to view new technology and low-income households as risks. </p>
<p>Green banks are able to use public money to “de-risk” such investments. For example, they can lend at low rates to private or local lenders on the condition that they lend money at affordable rates for customers to electrify their heating. <a href="https://sites.tufts.edu/cierp/files/2021/09/CPL_Policy_Brief_US_Green_Bank-1.pdf">Other financial instruments</a> include loan guarantees, securitization and co-investment. </p>
<p>Massachusetts’ green bank started with an initial $50 million in state funds, but it expects to grow by attracting both private investors and federal funding.</p>
<p>The timing is strategic. The <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/cleanenergy/inflation-reduction-act-guidebook/">Inflation Reduction Act</a>, passed by Congress in 2022, includes funding for green banks. Among other commitments, it creates a $27 billion <a href="https://www.epa.gov/greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund">Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund</a>, <a href="http://www.ncelenviro.org/resources/green-banks-and-the-inflation-reduction-act-issue-brief/">$20 billion</a> of which is earmarked to be awarded to nonprofits to invest indirectly in green projects through other local financing entities – including green banks.</p>
<h2>Lessons from green banks around the world</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.climatepolicylab.org/">Climate Policy Lab</a> at Tufts University, where we work as researchers, studies green banks around the world.</p>
<p>We have found that by following a few <a href="https://sites.tufts.edu/cierp/files/2021/09/CPL_Policy_Brief_US_Green_Bank-1.pdf">foundational principles</a>, green banks can increase financing for climate priorities while remaining financially viable and without creating housing debt that owners can’t pay back. These organizations should:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Have a clear, well-defined mission.</p></li>
<li><p>Be profit-making, but not profit-maximizing.</p></li>
<li><p>Address market gaps rather than competing with private investment.</p></li>
<li><p>Be flexible enough to use a variety of financial instruments.</p></li>
<li><p>Have an independent, stable and nonpartisan governance structure to ensure stability.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The Massachusetts green bank has a sector-focused mission that targets a market gap. Its focus on affordable housing could be clarified even more by tying it to the state definition of <a href="https://www.mass.gov/info-details/the-disadvantaged-community-program">disadvantaged communities</a>. The <a href="https://greenbank.ny.gov/Our-Impact/Impact-Report">NY Green Bank</a> in New York does this by aiming to have $100 million – about 35% of its total – invested in green housing to benefit disadvantaged communities by 2025.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A large apartment building with solar panels on the roof and on shades over the parking area." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537146/original/file-20230712-23-qlcivd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537146/original/file-20230712-23-qlcivd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537146/original/file-20230712-23-qlcivd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537146/original/file-20230712-23-qlcivd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537146/original/file-20230712-23-qlcivd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537146/original/file-20230712-23-qlcivd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537146/original/file-20230712-23-qlcivd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A new sustainable apartment building in New York’s Rockaways neighborhood shows how solar panels and geothermal energy can help offset electric, heating and cooling costs for low-income residents.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/AffordableHousingNewYork/63038a0146a4418587f2eb5f28b2094c/photo">AP Photo/Mark Lennihan</a></span>
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<p>Focusing the Massachusetts bank’s climate mission will involve some tough decisions. For example, <a href="https://www.ctgreenbank.com/home-solutions/smart-e-loans/eligible-upgrades/">Connecticut’s Green Bank</a> supports gas appliances above defined energy efficiency thresholds, but there is an argument for <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/bio/lauren-urbanek/new-senate-bills-encourage-us-heat-pump-manufacturing-jobs">leapfrogging gas entirely</a> to support the electrification of heating and cooking instead.</p>
<h2>What else should green banks prioritize?</h2>
<p>Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is important for curbing future climate change, but communities will also have to adapt to the climate impacts ahead.</p>
<p>The fact that the Massachusetts green bank is dedicated to affordable housing is already one adaptation. <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/bio/sam-whillans/climate-report-confirms-housing-essential-adaptation">People who have homes</a> are far more protected from climate impacts than those who do not. And if those homes are powered by clean energy with lower utility bills, low-income residents can more easily <a href="https://theconversation.com/americas-power-disconnection-crisis-in-31-states-utilities-can-shut-off-electricity-for-nonpayment-in-a-heat-wave-208893">afford to cool their homes</a> in extreme heat waves.</p>
<p>Green banks could also fund <a href="https://www.oecd.org/environment/cc/policy-perspectives-climate-resilient-infrastructure.pdf">climate resilience</a>, such as adding green spaces around buildings for natural cooling. Research shows that affordable housing in the United States is often in <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-01/how-climate-change-is-targeting-affordable-housing">highly vulnerable locations</a>, such as those at risk of flooding. </p>
<p>The Connecticut Green Bank, for example, is piloting “<a href="https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DEEP/climatechange/GC3/GC3-working-group-reports/GC3_Financing_funding_Adaptation_Resilience_Final_Report_111320.pdf">Property Assessed Resilience</a>,” which allows homeowners to borrow for flood protection upgrades and benefit immediately from increased property valuations and reduced insurance premiums. They can repay over decades through modest increases in their property tax bills. </p>
<p>Focusing on the <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/05/31/opinion/massachusetts-housing-moon-shot/">scarcity of affordable housing</a> can reduce both emissions and socioeconomic inequity simultaneously. In our view, that is the holy grail of climate policy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208098/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Massachusetts is establishing the first US green bank dedicated to sustainable affordable housing. Three experts in climate finance explain why better housing can help rein in global warming.Tarun Gopalakrishnan, Research Fellow, Climate Policy Lab, Tufts UniversityBethany Tietjen, Research Fellow in Climate Policy, The Fletcher School, Tufts UniversitySeth Owusu-Mante, Research Fellow in International Development, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2088932023-07-05T12:24:21Z2023-07-05T12:24:21ZAmerica faces a power disconnection crisis amid rising heat: In 31 states, utilities can shut off electricity for nonpayment in a heat wave<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535395/original/file-20230703-253876-e0fp4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6720%2C4476&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Low-income residents are among those most likely to lose cooling in their homes because they can't pay their bills.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/elderly-woman-with-fan-royalty-free-image/1420571004">Solidcolours/iStock/Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Millions of Americans have been sweltering through heat waves in recent weeks, and U.S. forecasters warn of a <a href="https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=1">hot summer ahead</a>. </p>
<p>Globally, 2023 saw the <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/it-was-hottest-june-record-unprecedented-north-atlantic-warmth-record-low-antarctic-sea-0">warmest June on record</a>, according to the European Union’s climate change service. That heat continued into July, with some of the hottest global daily temperatures on satellite record, and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/global-heat-record-hottest-climate-change-july-483fc8e2a286062773692db1a37efe23">possibly the hottest</a>. </p>
<p>For people who struggle to afford air conditioning, the rising need for cooling is a growing crisis. </p>
<p>An alarming number of Americans risk losing access to utility services because they can’t pay their bills. Energy utility providers <a href="https://utilitydisconnections.org/">shut off electricity to at least 3 million customers</a> in 2022 who had missed a bill payment. Over 30% of these disconnections happened in the three summer months, during a year that was the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-says-2022-fifth-warmest-year-on-record-warming-trend-continues">fifth hottest on record</a>.</p>
<p>In some cases, the loss of service lasted for just a few hours. But in others, people went without electricity for days or weeks while scrambling to find enough money to restore service, often only to face disconnection again.</p>
<p>As researchers who study <a href="https://energyjustice.indiana.edu/index.html">energy justice and energy insecurity</a>, we believe the United States is in the midst of a disconnection crisis. We started tracking these disconnections utility by utility around the country, and we believe that the crisis will only get worse as the impacts of climate change become more widespread and more severe. In our view, it is time government agencies and utilities start treating household energy security as a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-020-0582-0">national priority</a>.</p>
<h2>1 in 4 households face energy insecurity</h2>
<p>Americans tend to think about the loss of electricity as something infrequent and temporary. For most, it is a rare inconvenience stemming from a heat wave or storm.</p>
<p>But for millions of U.S. households, the risk of losing power is a constant concern. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, <a href="https://www.eia.gov/consumption/residential/">1 in 4 American households</a> experience some form of energy insecurity each year, with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-023-01265-0">no appreciable improvement</a> over the past decade.</p>
<p>For many low-income households, the risk of a power shut-off <a href="https://energyjustice.indiana.edu/research/index.html">reoccurs month after month</a>. In a recent study, we found that over the course of a single year, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac90d7">half of all households</a> whose power was disconnected dealt with disconnections multiple times as they struggled to pay their bills.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman sits on wooden steps outside a door. Two backpacks, one belonging to a small child, sit on the steps beside her." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535396/original/file-20230703-203734-ft3kuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535396/original/file-20230703-203734-ft3kuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535396/original/file-20230703-203734-ft3kuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535396/original/file-20230703-203734-ft3kuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535396/original/file-20230703-203734-ft3kuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535396/original/file-20230703-203734-ft3kuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535396/original/file-20230703-203734-ft3kuw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman sits outside the NeedLink Nashville offices after filling out an application to avoid losing electricity in 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/melissa-besong-of-nashville-poses-for-a-portrait-outside-of-news-photo/1243291719">William DeShazer for The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Energy insecurity like this is especially <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-020-00763-9">common among low-income Americans</a>, people of color, families with young children, individuals who rely on electronic medical devices or those living in poor housing conditions. During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, we found that Black and Hispanic households were three and four times, respectively, more likely to lose service than white households.</p>
<p>Along with existing financial constraints, people are facing rising electricity rates in many areas, rising inflation and higher temperatures that require cooling. Some also face a history of redlining and poor city planning that has concentrated certain populations in less efficient homes. Taken together, the crisis is apparent.</p>
<h2>Coping strategies can put health at risk</h2>
<p>We have found that over half of all low-income households <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2205356119">engage in some coping strategies</a>, and most of them find they need multiple strategies at once.</p>
<p>They might leave the air conditioner off in summer, allowing the heat to reach uncomfortable and potentially unsafe temperatures to reduce costs. Or they might forgo food or medicine to pay their energy bills, or strategically pay down one bill rather than another, known as “bill balancing.” Others turn to payday loans that might help temporarily but ultimately put them in deeper debt. In our research, we have found that the most common <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535403/original/file-20230703-37566-a194rb.png">coping strategies</a> are also the most risky.</p>
<p><iframe id="GG6Ll" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/GG6Ll/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Once people fall behind on their bills, they are at risk of being disconnected by their utility providers.</p>
<p>The loss of critical energy services may mean that affected people cannot keep their <a href="https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/aps-cut-power-heat-customer-dead-phoenix-summer-shutoff-11310515">homes cool</a> – or warm during the winter months – or food refrigerated during any season. Shut-offs may mean that people with illnesses or disabilities cannot keep medicines refrigerated or <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/3637206-regulators-can-save-lives-by-protecting-medically-vulnerable-utility-users/">medical devices charged</a>. And during times of extreme cold or heat, the loss of energy utility services can have <a href="https://www.workers.org/2009/us/shutoff_0730/">deadly consequences</a>.</p>
<h2>Where disconnection rates are highest</h2>
<p>Our research team recently launched the <a href="https://utilitydisconnections.org/">Utility Disconnections Dashboard</a> in which we track utility disconnections in all places where data is available. </p>
<p>In recent years, more states have required regulated utilities across the country to disclose the number of customers they disconnect. However, state regulations only apply to the utilities that they regulate. Public utilities and cooperatives, which serve over 20% of U.S. electricity customers, often aren’t covered. That leaves massive gaps in understanding of the full magnitude of the problem.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535093/original/file-20230630-21-33j7ki.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A screengrab of the Utility Disconnections Dashboard shows data from the state of Indiana, where five utilities had more than 2,000 disconnections each due to customers not paying bills on time. Indiana's total was over 32,000 in 2022." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535093/original/file-20230630-21-33j7ki.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535093/original/file-20230630-21-33j7ki.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535093/original/file-20230630-21-33j7ki.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535093/original/file-20230630-21-33j7ki.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=380&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535093/original/file-20230630-21-33j7ki.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535093/original/file-20230630-21-33j7ki.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535093/original/file-20230630-21-33j7ki.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=477&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Utility Disconnections Dashboard shows the number and rate of disconnections by utility in each state.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://utilitydisconnections.org/">Energy Justice Lab</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The data we do have reveals that disconnection rates soar during the summer months and are typically highest in the Southeast – the same states that were <a href="https://theconversation.com/extreme-heat-and-air-pollution-can-be-deadly-with-the-health-risk-together-worse-than-either-alone-187422">baking under</a> a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-a-heat-dome-an-atmospheric-scientist-explains-the-weather-phenomenon-baking-texas-and-forecast-to-expand-185569">heat dome in June and July</a> 2023.</p>
<p>Places with particularly high disconnection rates include Alabama, where the city of Dothan’s municipal utility has disconnected an average of 5% of its customers, and Florida, where the city of Tallahassee has a disconnection rate of over 4%.</p>
<p>Large investor-owned utilities in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Indiana also top the charts in disconnections, with average rates near 1%.</p>
<h2>Only 19 states restrict summer shut-offs</h2>
<p>State public utility commissions place certain restrictions on the circumstances when utilities can disconnect customers, but summer heat is often overlooked.</p>
<p>All but a handful of states limit utilities from shutting off customers <a href="http://utilitydisconnections.org/">during winter months</a> or on extremely cold days. Most have at least some medical exemptions.</p>
<p>Yet, the majority of states <a href="https://utilitydisconnections.org/doc/electric-utility-disconnections-legal-protections-and-policy-recommendations.pdf">do not place any limits</a> on utility disconnections during summer months or on very hot days. Only 19 states have such summer protections, which typically take the form of designating time periods or temperatures when customers cannot be disconnected from their service. We believe this is untenable in an era of climate change, as more parts of the country will <a href="https://theconversation.com/saving-lives-from-extreme-heat-lessons-from-the-deadly-2021-pacific-northwest-heat-wave-206737">increasingly experience excessive-heat days</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="hLGLj" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/hLGLj/9/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>These state-level policies provide a baseline of protection. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.106244">We learned</a> during the COVID-19 pandemic that moratoriums that prohibit utility disconnections can alleviate energy insecurity by establishing a strong mandate against disconnections.</p>
<p>But these policies are highly variable across the country and particularly insufficient during hot summer months. Moreover, customer protections can be difficult for people to find and understand, since the language can be overly convoluted and confusing, placing additional an burden on already vulnerable Americans to discover for themselves how they can avoid losing service.</p>
<h2>Better rules and a new mindset on right to energy</h2>
<p>As we see it, the U.S. needs more robust customer protections, with states, if not the federal government, mandating better disclosure of when and where disconnections occur to identify any systemic biases.</p>
<p>Most of all, we believe Americans need a collective change in mindset about energy access. That should start with a principle that all people should have access to critical energy services and that utilities should only shut off service to customers as a last resort, especially during health-compromising weather events. </p>
<p>The country cannot wait for deadly heat waves to prove how important it is to protect American households.</p>
<p><em>This article, <a href="https://theconversation.com/americas-power-disconnection-crisis-in-31-states-utilities-can-shut-off-electricity-for-nonpayment-in-a-heat-wave-208893">originally published</a> July 5, 2023, was updated July 7 with the June 2023 heat record and more July heat.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208893/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sanya Carley has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for work related to the material discussed in this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Konisky has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for work related to the material discussed in this article.</span></em></p>One in 4 American households are at risk of losing power because of the high cost of energy. Over 30% of those disconnections are in summer, when heat gets dangerous.Sanya Carley, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Energy Policy and City Planning, University of PennsylvaniaDavid Konisky, Lynton K. Caldwell Professor, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2041012023-04-27T12:31:30Z2023-04-27T12:31:30ZHistoric flooding in Fort Lauderdale was a sign of things to come – a look at who is most at risk and how to prepare<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522779/original/file-20230425-16-1n8jvh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C23%2C3888%2C2568&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The hardest-hit homes in Florida's mid-April flooding were in modest neighborhoods in low-lying areas.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/woman-looks-on-as-she-stands-outside-of-his-flooded-home-news-photo/1251790214">Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When a powerful storm flooded neighborhoods in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in April with what preliminary reports show was <a href="https://weather.com/news/weather/news/2023-04-13-fort-lauderdale-most-extreme-united-states-24-hour-rainfall-records">25 inches of rain</a> in 24 hours, few people were prepared. <a href="https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/scec/records/all/maxp">Even hurricanes</a> rarely drop that much rain in one area that fast. Residents could do little to stop the floodwater as it spread over their yards and into their homes. </p>
<p>Studies show that as global temperatures rise, <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-flood-maps-show-us-damage-rising-26-in-next-30-years-due-to-climate-change-alone-and-the-inequity-is-stark-175958">more people will be at risk</a> from such destructive flooding – including in areas far from the coasts that rarely faced extreme flooding in the past.</p>
<p>In many of these communities, the people at greatest risk of harm from flash flooding are <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-flood-maps-show-us-damage-rising-26-in-next-30-years-due-to-climate-change-alone-and-the-inequity-is-stark-175958">low-wage workers</a>, <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climateimpacts/climate-change-and-health-older-adults">older adults</a> and other vulnerable residents who live in low-lying areas and who have few resources to protect their properties and themselves.</p>
<p>I study the impact of extreme weather on vulnerable communities as an <a href="https://csw.osu.edu/about/faculty-staff/faculty-directory/rao-smitha-ph-d/">assistant professor of social work</a>. To limit the damage, communities need to know who is at risk and how they can be better prepared.</p>
<h2>More extreme downpours in a warming world</h2>
<p>The Fort Lauderdale <a href="https://time.com/6272147/fort-lauderdale-flooding-florida-rain/">storm on April 12-13, 2023</a>, offered a view into the risks ahead <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/">as temperatures rise</a>.</p>
<p>A warmer atmosphere <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-intensifying-the-water-cycle-bringing-more-powerful-storms-and-flooding-heres-what-the-science-shows-187951">can hold more moisture</a>, leading to stronger downpours. The resulting deluges can be devastating. These events are expected to increase in frequency and intensity in many regions as greenhouse gas emissions from human activities <a href="https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/19/#key-message-1">continue to heat up the planet</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522724/original/file-20230425-24-nw1p88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Four maps show how risk of extreme precipitation increased in some regions, particularly the Northeast, and projections of increasing rainfall in the East in the coming decades." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522724/original/file-20230425-24-nw1p88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522724/original/file-20230425-24-nw1p88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522724/original/file-20230425-24-nw1p88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522724/original/file-20230425-24-nw1p88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=687&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522724/original/file-20230425-24-nw1p88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=864&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522724/original/file-20230425-24-nw1p88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=864&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522724/original/file-20230425-24-nw1p88.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=864&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Where extreme precipitation events are forecast to increase under a low-emissions scenario and a high one.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/chapter/2/">National Climate Assessment 2018</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Recent disasters, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/looking-back-on-americas-summer-of-heat-floods-and-climate-change-welcome-to-the-new-abnormal-190636">several in 2022</a> and <a href="https://theweek.com/in-depth/1021278/2023-extreme-weather">in 2023 already</a>, show how the risk of flash flooding is expanding beyond <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/columbus/2023/04/18/tornado-alley-columbus-ohio-weather">areas traditionally considered at risk</a>. </p>
<h2>Knowing who is most at risk</h2>
<p>To plan for extreme weather, it’s crucial for community leaders and residents to know where the risks are highest and who <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103072">might not be prepared</a>.</p>
<p>Low-lying areas with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01944360708977981">poorly planned development</a>, <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/its-not-just-climate-are-we-ignoring-other-causes-of-disasters">lack of investment</a> in protective infrastructure and the lingering effects of <a href="https://www.redfin.com/news/redlining-flood-risk/">historic disinvestment and discrimination</a> are often at higher risk. So are low-income communities with tight budgets that <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12053-019-09820-z">can’t afford protective measures</a> like upgraded levees or stormwater systems and can’t recover from damage quickly.</p>
<p>When older adults <a href="https://www.samhsa.gov/dtac/disaster-planners/older-adults">live in these flood-prone areas</a>, they are at even higher risk. Older adults have a higher likelihood of having health needs or some form of <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/features/kf-adult-prevalence-disabilities.html">disability</a> that could affect their ability to leave quickly during a disaster. They are also more likely to be <a href="https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/loneliness-and-social-isolation-tips-staying-connected">socially isolated</a>, which may mean they don’t hear timely information or have help to evacuate or quick access to resources for recovering.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An older man carries a small fuzzy dog while walking through floodwater with a woman waring a backpack." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522786/original/file-20230425-884-s4af2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522786/original/file-20230425-884-s4af2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522786/original/file-20230425-884-s4af2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522786/original/file-20230425-884-s4af2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522786/original/file-20230425-884-s4af2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522786/original/file-20230425-884-s4af2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522786/original/file-20230425-884-s4af2n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Residents walk out of a flooded neighborhood in Fort Lauderdale on April 13, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/robert-rouilard-and-patricia-polin-evacuate-ginger-from-a-news-photo/1482046569">Joe Raedle/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Renters and the impact of housing insecurity</h2>
<p>In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2023.102638">recent study</a>, my colleagues and I looked at how prepared people were for disasters of any kind across the U.S. – flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes and others – and how housing security played a role. The numbers were sobering.</p>
<p>Overall, we found 57% of the population, among 29,070 housing units surveyed nationwide, reported they were not prepared with food, water, emergency funds and transportation in case disaster struck. We found that households facing housing insecurity – those behind on their payments for rent, mortgage or utilities – were less prepared for disasters than others, even when the occupants had similar incomes and educations.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman standing in floodwater in boots looks in the door of a flooded home. A sign reading 'beware of dog' is in the window. Floodwater is up to her shins." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522730/original/file-20230425-14-rm5in4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522730/original/file-20230425-14-rm5in4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522730/original/file-20230425-14-rm5in4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522730/original/file-20230425-14-rm5in4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522730/original/file-20230425-14-rm5in4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522730/original/file-20230425-14-rm5in4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522730/original/file-20230425-14-rm5in4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=561&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">For residents with low incomes and without flood insurance, cleanup costs from flooding can be overwhelming.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tammy-green-walks-into-the-home-she-lives-in-with-her-dad-news-photo/1482256291">Joe Raedle/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>People who are struggling to meet day-to-day needs often don’t have the ability and resources to plan for everyday events, let alone for disasters. Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212420922002916?via%3Dihub">research</a> has shown that households with children, households led by women, and low-income households were less prepared than others for disasters.</p>
<p>Renting adds additional challenges. In the U.S., <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/essay/us-rental-housing-markets/">lower-income families often depend on the rental market</a>. They tend to move more frequently, and since they don’t own the property, they often can’t make upgrades for safety. And landlords might not prioritize those risks that seem rare but carry costs.</p>
<h2>How to help communities stay safe</h2>
<p>The most effective way to address these challenges is through solutions that are tailored to the community.</p>
<p>That can involve <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-fema-can-build-rural-resilience-through-disaster-preparedness/">investing in infrastructure</a>, including state-funded priorities like drainage systems and large-scale flood prevention measures, as well as ensuring that people have access to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK316535/">safe and affordable housing</a>. Some communities and federal agencies have <a href="https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/ap-cost-of-flood-buyouts-has-been-rising-over-past-decade">bought out properties</a> that frequently flood and changed zoning rules to prevent more people from moving into harm’s way.</p>
<p>Raising community awareness about climate change and extreme weather risks is also crucial, especially among <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climateimpacts/climate-change-and-health-older-adults">those most at risk</a>, such as older adults. If people understand the risks, know how to prepare their homes, know how to <a href="https://www.fema.gov/pdf/areyouready/basic_preparedness.pdf">plan for emergencies</a> and know where to find assistance, they’re more likely to be prepared when disasters strikes.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pNMm90nzT4o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Scientists explain why warming can lead to heavier downpours and flash flooding.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I believe the most successful <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420919317893?via%3Dihub">efforts are those that bring at-risk communities into planning discussions</a>.</p>
<p>For example, in Columbus, Ohio, the city is working with the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging, Age Friendly Innovation Center and my team to improve disaster preparedness among older residents. We hope to learn from older adults in affordable housing communities who have experienced extreme weather in recent years to help design action plans for communities with special needs. The goal is to ensure residents are better prepared for climate- and weather-related emergencies in the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204101/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Smitha Rao does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nationally, 57% of the population says they’re not prepared for a flood disaster. Surveys and disasters show that those most at risk are least prepared.Smitha Rao, Assistant Professor of Social Work, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1830092022-10-25T12:28:44Z2022-10-25T12:28:44ZBuilding subsidized low-income housing actually lifts property values in a neighborhood, contradicting NIMBY concerns<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490439/original/file-20221018-18-wz0tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=57%2C139%2C5406%2C3497&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Today's low-income housing developments, like this one in St. Louis, are of a much higher quality than those of the past. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/TrumpInfrastructure/fa82e8e2392a48ec96740b431dba44f3/photo?Query=Low-Income%20Housing%20Tax%20Credit&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=10&currentItemNo=2">AP Photo/Jeff Roberson</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em> </p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Building multiple publicly subsidized low-income housing developments in a neighborhood doesn’t lower the value of other homes in the area – and in fact can even increase their worth, according to a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhe.2022.101838">new peer-reviewed study I co-authored</a>. </p>
<p>For the study, we looked at 508 developments financed through the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and built in the Chicago area from 1997 to 2016. We then examined their influence on more than 600,000 nearby residential sales, using data from local property assessments and tax records. We chose Chicago because of its size, well-established neighborhoods, substantial amount of subsidized housing developments, well-documented <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Great-American-City-Enduring-Neighborhood/dp/022605568X">racial and ethnic segregation</a>, pockets of persistent and concentrated poverty and excellent data coverage. While some readers may have pictures of dilapidated buildings in their minds, the projects we looked at were generally well built and well maintained.</p>
<p>We found that, relative to comparable homes in other neighborhoods, average home prices jumped by 10% within a quarter-mile of the first affordable housing development that was built in a neighborhood and 2% within a quarter-mile over a 15-year period or through 2016. To ensure we were isolating the effect of the low-income housing program, we also looked at preexisting market trends to make sure neighborhoods that showed the faster price growth weren’t already growing at a faster rate before the low-income housing.</p>
<p>What was more striking to us, however, is that additional developments in the same area generally further increased housing prices. Building two more developments increased prices by a total of 3 additional percentage points, on average, within a quarter-mile and 4 percentage points over the next quarter-mile. In other words, a neighborhood within a quarter-mile of all three developments saw gains of 13% on average over the period.</p>
<p>These additional effects are important because low-income housing projects are disproportionately concentrated geographically, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Keeping-Races-in-Their-Places-The-Dividing-Lines-That-Shaped-the-American/Orlando/p/book/9780367680374">especially in lower-income areas</a>. </p>
<p>We also found that these effects occurred regardless of whether it was a low- or high-income neighborhood and no matter its racial composition. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pam.20247">other studies</a> have previously shown Low-Income Housing Tax Credit developments typically have positive effects on surrounding property values, ours was the first to look at the impact of several projects in one neighborhood. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Homeowners are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/05/us/affordable-housing-suburbs.html">often worried</a> that the development of publicly subsidized housing in their neighborhoods will lower the value of their homes.</p>
<p>The primary concerns seem to be that such housing developments <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087412469341">will lead to higher levels</a> of crime and poverty, as well as requiring wealthier residents to pay higher costs for services and education, according to a 2012 study of “not in my back yard,” or NYMBY, opposition. These concerns are particularly acute when multiple projects are clustered closely together, reminding many Americans of public housing projects that <a href="https://www.clevelandfed.org/newsroom-and-events/publications/economic-commentary/2014-economic-commentaries/ec-201419-public-housing-concentrated-poverty-and-crime.aspx">concentrated poverty and crime</a> in the mid-20th century.</p>
<p>But today’s affordable housing developments are different than those of the past, which were often <a href="https://homesnow.org/short-history-of-public-housing-in-the-us-1930s-present/">cheaply built and poorly maintained</a>. The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program supports private developers who have an incentive to build high-quality buildings and implement good property management. </p>
<p>Although local homeowners <a href="https://shelterforce.org/2014/04/23/who_why_and_how_communities_oppose_affordable_housing/">often oppose</a> these buildings, our results show that they are less cause for concern than people may think.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>We didn’t measure the effects of the new developments on area rental prices, so we don’t know how the subsidized rental units affected rents in unsubsidized properties nearby. That is a subject for future research. Similarly, while we demonstrated statistically that the developments themselves catalyzed the positive changes in values, we did not examine which particular aspects of the developments were the primary drivers of that change.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We’re currently finishing up our follow-up study in Los Angeles – another large city but with very different dynamics from Chicago’s. Our findings, which are currently undergoing peer review, show markedly similar effects, though we found the biggest gains in property values after multiple projects in a neighborhood.</p>
<p>We also are examining whether the observed property value effects differ when factoring in the size of the building, the presence of market-rate units and the type of developer.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=4506231">Sean Zielenbach</a>, president of SZ Consulting and a co-author of the study, contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183009/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was funded in part by a generous grant from the JPMorgan Chase Foundation to Enterprise Community Partners, and we gratefully acknowledge their support, as well as the University of Southern California’s Bedrosian Center on Governance and the Public Enterprise. The funders played no role in the research itself.</span></em></p>The concentration of subsidized low-income housing developments isn’t as bad as residents fear: It actually increases property values – at a faster rate than other neighborhoods.Anthony W. Orlando, Assistant Professor of Finance, Real Estate and Law, California State Polytechnic University, PomonaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1920012022-10-24T12:27:28Z2022-10-24T12:27:28Z4 reasons affordable housing is slow to recover after disasters like hurricanes, and what communities can do about it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490720/original/file-20221019-20-rosrjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C3000%2C1985&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hurricane damage to affordable housing can leave business owners struggling to find employees. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/eugene-scott-walks-through-the-muck-on-the-floor-of-athena-news-photo/613351744">Joe Raedle/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>How a community recovers after a disaster like Hurricane Ian is often a “chicken and egg” question: Which returns first – businesses or households?</p>
<p>Businesses need employees and customers to be able to function. Households need jobs and the services businesses provide.</p>
<p>As an urban planning researcher who focuses on housing recovery after disasters, I have found in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098011428178">my research</a> that they’re mutually dependent. However, in coastal communities, the recovery of tourism-based businesses like restaurants and hotels depends in large part on the return of affordable housing for employees.</p>
<p>Rockport, Texas, where Hurricane Harvey made landfall in 2017, is an example of the challenge. It’s a small community that caters to vacationers and sport fishermen, including celebrities like country singer George Strait, who <a href="https://www.kiiitv.com/article/news/local/campaign-featuring-george-strait-to-urge-tourism-in-rockport-fulton/503-527353678">filmed an ad campaign</a> in 2018 urging tourists to return to Rockport. Drawing tourists isn’t easy without fully functioning restaurants and hotels, though. In a community review published about the same time, <a href="https://www.rockport-fulton.org/Hurricane_Harvey_Current_Economic_Reality">business leaders in Rockport said</a> that the inability of low-wage workers to find housing in the area was a key obstacle to their own recovery.</p>
<p>I’ve been studying housing recovery since 2008, when Hurricane Ike devastated large parts of Galveston, Texas. I’ve found that in many communities, affordable housing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2014.980440">returns only very slowly</a> after a disaster, if at all. </p>
<h2>Affordable housing tends to be older</h2>
<p>The main source of affordable single-family housing in most communities comes from what’s known as “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098966367">filtering</a>.”</p>
<p>Neighborhoods have a life cycle. As they age, they are either redeveloped or gentrified, or they decline. As a neighborhood declines, homes are more likely to be occupied by renters. They also become more affordable, and they tend to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2011.576525">less well maintained</a>. Apartment buildings that are designed for renters go through a similar life cycle.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An Hispanic woman and man stand in a flood-damaged living room. The ceiling has a hole from the storm." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490721/original/file-20221019-16-lu80js.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490721/original/file-20221019-16-lu80js.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490721/original/file-20221019-16-lu80js.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490721/original/file-20221019-16-lu80js.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490721/original/file-20221019-16-lu80js.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490721/original/file-20221019-16-lu80js.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490721/original/file-20221019-16-lu80js.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many affordable homes in Rockport flooded during Hurricane Harvey.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/celina-martinez-returns-to-find-her-family-home-badly-news-photo/839642952">Mark Ralson/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>In Galveston after Hurricane Ike, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X14531828">we found that the most damaged housing</a> was often in low-income and predominantly minority neighborhoods with older homes. </p>
<p>Much of the workforce housing in these neighborhoods was built <a href="https://www.steinberglawfirm.com/blog/what-to-know-about-slab-on-foundations/">slab on grade</a>, meaning the first floor is at ground level and vulnerable to flooding. Most higher-cost homes, in contrast, were elevated anywhere from 3 to 14 feet (about 1 to 4 meters).</p>
<p>Because most affordable housing becomes affordable by becoming old and dilapidated, rebuilding the same size home will also be more expensive than the original, especially amid the <a href="https://www.nahb.org/news-and-economics/press-releases/2022/09/builder-confidence-falls-for-ninth-straight-month-as-housing-slowdown-continues">current construction market</a>’s supply chain disruptions.</p>
<p>Further, lower-income families are <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-01/few-florida-homes-hit-by-hurricane-ian-are-covered-for-floods">less likely to have adequate insurance</a> or savings that will allow them to rebuild quickly. They often must wait for federal assistance through the <a href="https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/comm_planning/cdbg-dr">Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery</a> program, which can take years to reach homeowners.</p>
<h2>It’s also more likely to be severely damaged</h2>
<p>Affordable housing is often in less desirable areas, including low-lying areas prone to flooding.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2014.980440">research in both Galveston after Hurricane Ike and in the Miami area</a> after Hurricane Andrew in 1992 found that low-value homes were most likely to suffer extensive damage during flooding.</p>
<p><iframe id="Y8hWI" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Y8hWI/12/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>They also take much longer to recover their value, if they recover it at all. In both Galveston and Miami, low-value homes that had extensive damage still <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2014.980440">had not regained their pre-storm value</a> four years after the hurricane, while higher-value homes sustaining even moderate damage gained value.</p>
<h2>Rental housing recovers half as quickly</h2>
<p>While renters are difficult to track after hurricanes, we do know that they are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0885412218812080">more likely to experience long-term displacement</a>.</p>
<p>Our research shows that rental units suffer more damage and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0885412218812080">recover about half as quickly</a> as owner-occupied housing.</p>
<p><iframe id="tPnBb" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/tPnBb/11/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>For low-wage workers, the uncertainty of whether they will be able to return to rental units can mean they decide to <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2018/08/24/hurricane-harvey-year-later-rockport-cant-find-housing-evacuees/">seek work and housing elsewhere</a>. In talking with residents in Rockport after Hurricane Harvey, I heard repeatedly that workers had moved permanently to San Antonio, 160 miles away, or Corpus Christi, 30 miles away, to find both work and housing after the storm.</p>
<h2>Business decisions can slow rental recovery</h2>
<p>In both Galveston and the Miami area, we found that the recovery of apartments and duplexes was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2014.980440">much more volatile</a> than single-family housing and took much longer.</p>
<p>Because these housing types are owned by businesses rather than occupants, the decision to rebuild is less urgent and less emotional.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man stands with his hands on his hips looking a wet household goods that have been dragged out into the street in front of an apartment building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490724/original/file-20221019-16-velxup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490724/original/file-20221019-16-velxup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490724/original/file-20221019-16-velxup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490724/original/file-20221019-16-velxup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490724/original/file-20221019-16-velxup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490724/original/file-20221019-16-velxup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/490724/original/file-20221019-16-velxup.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hurricane Ike damaged apartment buildings in Galveston where low-wage workers lived.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/residents-of-the-justine-apartments-stand-near-a-pile-of-news-photo/82928790">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Anecdotally after Harvey, I heard a lot from community organizations in Houston about the speculative purchasing of damaged single-family homes by corporations that flipped them and turned them into rental houses. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-harvey-housing-investors/flood-fix-and-flip-houston-housing-investors-see-profit-in-harveys-wake-idUSKCN1BX0DA">Investors also talked about the money</a> they could make by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/us/flooding-canyon-gate-hurricane-harvey.html">buying homes at cut-rate prices</a> after the storm, fixing them up and selling them at a large profit.</p>
<p>While homes have always been commodities – and a critical way that families build wealth – the <a href="https://financialservices.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hhrg-117-ba09-wstate-lopezs-20220628.pdf">practice of corporate ownership</a> restricts housing availability, inflating housing prices. Flipping homes also distorts markets through rapid increases in values.</p>
<h2>What can communities do?</h2>
<p>Ensuring that a community will have affordable housing after a disaster starts well before that disaster strikes. Creating a community recovery plan can emphasize the importance of affordable housing to the community’s economic resilience.</p>
<p>Framing affordable housing as a public good and characterizing it as “workforce housing” for teachers, law enforcement officers, and other public servants can help overcome NIMBY – “not in my backyard” – concerns, but it can still be an uphill battle. </p>
<p>Communities currently recovering will have to be aggressive about ensuring the rebuilding of affordable housing. This means applying for FEMA and Community Development Block Grant funding and thinking creatively about how to bring down the costs of rebuilding.</p>
<p>One creative approach is <a href="https://shelterforce.org/2019/02/28/community-land-trusts-in-the-age-of-climate-change">community land trusts</a>. Community land trusts are a way of cooperatively purchasing and owning land that individual households can build on. <a href="https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/189335">Identifying land</a> that is publicly owned or donated can provide a place to quickly rebuild homes for low-wage workers.</p>
<p>Another innovative program for rapid recovery of affordable housing is being piloted by the nonprofit <a href="https://texashousers.org/members/">Texas Housers</a>. Rather than bringing in FEMA trailers after a disaster, the <a href="https://texashousers.org/2019/06/07/there-is-now-a-proven-solution-for-disaster-home-rebuilding-that-is-rapid-efficient-and-just-lets-use-it/">Rapido</a> program quickly and inexpensively builds <a href="https://www.arch.tamu.edu/app/uploads/2021/10/Rapido-Final.pdf">the core of a house</a>, similar in size to a mobile home. The core is then designed to be built out later into a larger home once federal funds are available.</p>
<p>Several Florida communities are now dealing with damage to affordable housing after Hurricane Ian. Coastal communities everywhere can learn from what these communities have experienced and prepare now for <a href="https://theconversation.com/hurricane-ian-capped-2-weeks-of-extreme-storms-around-the-globe-heres-whats-known-about-how-climate-change-fuels-tropical-cyclones-191583">more extreme storms in the future</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192001/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shannon Van Zandt receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute for Standards & Technology. She is affiliated with Texas Housers. </span></em></p>Research shows that coastal businesses’ hurricane recovery depends on workers being able to return.Shannon Van Zandt, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1914252022-09-27T16:25:51Z2022-09-27T16:25:51ZHurricane Ian: Older adults have many reasons for not evacuating – here’s why it’s important to check on aging neighbors<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486845/original/file-20220927-12-n2vv9v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=37%2C59%2C4955%2C3121&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hurricane Ian pounded western Cuba on Sept. 26, 2022, on its way to the Florida coast.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CubaTropicalWeather/74d15821cd974efea0578a7b6d960f80/photo">AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As mandatory evacuations for Hurricane Ian began in Florida and <a href="https://theconversation.com/3-reasons-hurricane-ian-poses-a-major-flooding-hazard-for-florida-a-meteorologist-explains-191341">the warnings about damaging wind and flooding</a> intensified, I called my aging parents to check in.</p>
<p>Being <a href="https://nursing.umich.edu/faculty-staff/faculty/sue-anne-bell">a disaster researcher</a>, my concern for them was already in high gear, even though they weren’t directly in an evacuation zone. My dad takes medications that require refrigeration, special needles and a sterile environment to administer. My mom is in the early stages of dementia. Both are not as spry as they used to be.</p>
<p>I heard the worry in their voice about their safety, about my dad’s health needs, and about what might happen to their house. </p>
<p>As I sat at home hundreds of miles away, I thought about all the reasons why leaving isn’t always a clear decision.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman sits on a porch with a dog as floodwater covers the stairs. A sign reading 'private property: no tresspassing' is on the house." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486871/original/file-20220927-22-rdt3oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486871/original/file-20220927-22-rdt3oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486871/original/file-20220927-22-rdt3oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486871/original/file-20220927-22-rdt3oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486871/original/file-20220927-22-rdt3oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486871/original/file-20220927-22-rdt3oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486871/original/file-20220927-22-rdt3oi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Concerns about health and home security are two reasons older adults might fear evacuating during disasters like Hurricane Harvey in 2017.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/rena-brannon-sits-on-the-porch-of-her-home-which-surrounded-news-photo/841968094">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>As in other recent hurricanes, some residents will choose to ride out the storm in their homes, despite recommendations to evacuate. The risks can be high – sheltering in place during <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php">a major hurricane</a>, with flooding rainfall, storm surge and powerful winds, can put lives at risk. The damage to neighborhoods after the storm, including loss of power can also be dangerous, and supplies can be hard to find. </p>
<p>It is easy to dismiss those who stay in the storm’s path as uninformed, but for older adults, evacuating can come with its own consequences. Researchers have found that older adults may <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2016.197">not be well prepared</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1159/000439168">address the health risks</a> that occur during disasters. Being ready to either evacuate or stay put is part of that.</p>
<p>Understanding and addressing the underlying reasons behind why seniors do not evacuate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2020.80">can help to improve disaster response</a> for this population. </p>
<h2>Evacuation can be expensive</h2>
<p>For seniors who live on a fixed income, evacuation may not always be feasible for their budget. Evacuating has many associated – and hidden – costs.</p>
<p>Transportation, food and housing can add up quickly. Shelters may be intimidating.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man stands in the door of a mobile home as his dog runs out to greet two police officers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486847/original/file-20220927-2496-uadpnp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486847/original/file-20220927-2496-uadpnp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486847/original/file-20220927-2496-uadpnp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486847/original/file-20220927-2496-uadpnp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486847/original/file-20220927-2496-uadpnp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486847/original/file-20220927-2496-uadpnp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486847/original/file-20220927-2496-uadpnp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pets are another reason some people don’t evacuate, even when officers urge them to leave.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/GH-20190902-9966/24a414afc15a4193b6db1bdaff0ebf2b/photo">AP Photo/Gerald Herbert</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A survey we conducted in 2020 with 2,256 older adults across the U.S. found that about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2020.80">1 in 4 (24%)</a> indicated it would be difficult to afford to stay somewhere else for a week if necessary. And with so many storms happening so frequently, costs related to multiple evacuations can quickly add up.</p>
<h2>Concerns about taking care of chronic illness</h2>
<p>Up to 60% of older adults in America have <a href="https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/supporting-older-patients-chronic-conditions#:%7E:text=Approximately%2085%25%20of%20older%20adults,for%20Disease%20Control%20and%20Prevention.">more than one chronic health condition</a>. Diabetes, kidney disease, and even cancer are prime examples of conditions that require daily attention in order to keep an optimum level of health.</p>
<p>When our research team surveyed older adults who use essential medical equipment that requires electricity, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2020.80">just 25% had an alternative power source</a> for that equipment. </p>
<p>Further, oxygen tanks, home dialysis machines, chemotherapy and strict dietary and medication regimens can be a part of life-saving daily routines. Without this equipment, breakdowns in health can occur, which can have <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35171505/">long-lasting effects on health</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An older man lies on a cot in an evacuation center. He has a wrist band and is clutching a bottle of water." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486849/original/file-20220927-22-830g3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486849/original/file-20220927-22-830g3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486849/original/file-20220927-22-830g3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486849/original/file-20220927-22-830g3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486849/original/file-20220927-22-830g3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486849/original/file-20220927-22-830g3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486849/original/file-20220927-22-830g3z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shelters can be intimidating for older residents.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VirusOutbreakHurricanes/a88f9c23ecc24000bc13fc1d720be0b1/photo">AP Photo/Gerald Herbert</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Older adults may be hesitant to break these care routines, or worry about being away from important equipment that is not portable.</p>
<h2>Mobility issues</h2>
<p>Difficulty moving around, losing balance and unsteadiness are common changes that occur with aging. The risk of falling or injury while moving more than usual due to the storm preparations is a considerable challenge.</p>
<p>For seniors with limited mobility, the challenges of getting prepared to evacuate and then moving out of their homes and into a crowded and chaotic situation <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2020.80">can be a serious deterrent</a>.</p>
<h2>Social isolation</h2>
<p>Social isolation is also a well-documented issue among older adults. Older adults who live alone, who are caregivers for loved ones or who don’t speak English are especially at risk. These individuals may lack the awareness and resources to evacuate. </p>
<p>That’s why evacuation planning guidelines recommend <a href="https://www.ready.gov/evacuation">checking in on neighbors</a> to see if they need help. Programs, run by governments or community groups, also exist in some areas to <a href="https://www.miamidade.gov/global/service.page?Mduid_service=ser1470238193996672">help seniors evacuate</a>. </p>
<h2>Trusting in past experiences</h2>
<p>Many seniors have chosen to stay home through decades of strong storms and hurricanes. Hurricane Ian may not seem any different – but it is.</p>
<p>The Gulf Coast near Tampa has not seen direct impacts of a hurricane in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/floods-science-florida-gulf-of-mexico-tampa-e0ff179a0c93debd154897e292f539f9">more than 100 years</a>. The tendency to underestimate the severity of a disaster and its potential effects is called <a href="https://psychologenie.com/insight-into-concept-of-normalcy-bias-in-psychology">normalcy bias</a>. The idea that “if it hasn’t happened before, why should it happen now?” is one that keeps many at home rather than evacuating.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Bare shelves that once held bottled water in a store with shoppers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486852/original/file-20220927-22-qt8xga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486852/original/file-20220927-22-qt8xga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486852/original/file-20220927-22-qt8xga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486852/original/file-20220927-22-qt8xga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486852/original/file-20220927-22-qt8xga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486852/original/file-20220927-22-qt8xga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486852/original/file-20220927-22-qt8xga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Store shelves in Orlando were bare of bottled water and other storms provisions a few days before Hurricane Ian’s arrival. The crowds can be difficult for some older residents to manage.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/TropicalWeatherFlorida/98548e048e214454a16c7c015596a12a/photo">AP Photo/John Raoux</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody told reporters, “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN7syB8BfLo">This could be the storm that we have all feared</a>.” She is right to be scared.</p>
<p>Hurricane Ian is expected to <a href="https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/042148.shtml?peakSurge#contents">cause huge damages</a> as it nears the coast of Florida, and it will almost certainly have long term effects for many of its senior residents. Building supportive communities that can help older adults prepare for – and become resilient to – disasters are needed now more than ever.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191425/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Research reported in this publication was supported by National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health.</span></em></p>For some people, the risks associated with leaving can seem more dangerous than the storm.Sue Anne Bell, Assistant Professor of Nursing, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1842332022-06-15T12:26:05Z2022-06-15T12:26:05ZTrouble paying bills can take a heavy toll on fathers’ mental health, leading to family conflict<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468597/original/file-20220613-26-2d92sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=164%2C65%2C5306%2C3379&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Most research on poverty has focused on the effects on mothers, but a new study shows the importance of turning increased attention to fathers' mental health.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/father-walking-with-son-and-daughter-in-park-at-royalty-free-image/1321546994?adppopup=true">kieferpix/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>For families on low incomes, difficulty paying utility bills, rent, mortgage or health care costs set the stage for parental mental health problems, especially for fathers, that then lead to potentially violent family conflict. These are the key findings of a study I led <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12698">that was recently published</a> in the journal Family Relations. </p>
<p>Prior poverty research has been primarily conducted with mothers, with a predominant focus on low incomes, without considering the role of so-called “material hardship” and its impact on fathers. Family income refers to a specific dollar amount that parents bring in through paid work, <a href="https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines">such as an annual household income of US$27,750 for a family of four</a>, whereas material hardship – or the “everyday hardships of making ends meet” – refers to whether a family has faced any challenges meeting basic needs such as food, utilities and health insurance. </p>
<p>My research team found that it was not low family income per se but rather the everyday hardships of making ends meet that was linked with fathers’ poorer mental health that then led to more negative conflict behaviors with the mothers. Such conflict behaviors included blaming the partner for things that go wrong; putting down a partner’s feelings, opinions or desires; or little arguments turning into ugly fights with accusations and name-calling. Such verbal aggression can be damaging to the partner relationship and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520948514">is shown to be harmful for young children</a> who witness their parents engaging in such behaviors.</p>
<p>To carry out this study, my team used data from the <a href="https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/studies/29781">Building Strong Families project</a>, a large and racially diverse sample of 2,794 mostly unmarried heterosexual couples caring for young children and living with low income. Our goal was to examine how economic insecurity – defined as low family income and material hardship – was associated with mothers’ and fathers’ mental health conditions and relationship functioning. </p>
<p>One of the key findings was that the association between material hardships such as difficulty paying for bills, rent and health insurance and destructive conflict behaviors worked primarily through fathers’ depressive symptoms and not those of the mother. Examples of depressive symptoms included feelings of sadness, sleep problems, difficulty concentrating, disinterest in eating, and loneliness. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>These findings suggest that the negative effects of material hardship on relationship dynamics within couples operate by hurting fathers’ mental health more so than that of mothers. In light of traditional gender norms, fathers may feel more stressed than mothers when they are not able to fulfill the primary breadwinner role. That is, when fathers feel they are not economically providing <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-police-stop-black-men-the-effects-reach-into-their-homes-and-families-144321">to alleviate everyday economic stressors in their families</a>, that can lead to more mental health problems and more conflict between fathers and mothers. Our study suggests the importance of focusing equal attention on fathers and how family interventions might help alleviate the issues that lead to fathers’ depressive symptoms and negative conflict between parents. </p>
<p>Relatedly, during the COVID-19 pandemic, parents – <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/opre-charmed-lessons-covid-father-relationships-programs-brief-feb-2022.pdf">including fathers of low-income status</a> – have experienced high levels of pandemic-related unemployment, economic insecurity and mental health problems. As such, addressing fathers’ and mothers’ mental health seems exceptionally critical and has the potential to support healthy family functioning during the ongoing pandemic. </p>
<h2>What other research is being done</h2>
<p>I am beginning to explore how families might be resilient against the negative effects of poverty by looking at positive relationships between parents as sources of strength. For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.729654">in another study I led</a>, I showed that when mothers and fathers focused on positive behaviors such as being a good co-parenting team on behalf of their children, they were more likely to withstand economic stressors linked with poverty and to engage in warm and sensitive parenting that benefited their young children’s social development.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184233/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>In conducting the research mentioned in this research brief, Joyce Y. Lee was supported by a fellowship from the Administration for Children and Families (Children’s Bureau) under grant no. 90PR0009-01-00. </span></em></p>In families that are facing economic insecurity, fathers are more likely to experience depressive symptoms that can lead to conflict.Joyce Y. Lee, Assistant Professor of Social Work, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1784982022-04-28T12:18:31Z2022-04-28T12:18:31ZDiaper need emerges as health indicator during pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459200/original/file-20220421-11033-2j867q.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C15%2C3490%2C2307&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Thirty-six percent of surveyed families with young children said they did not have enough diapers during the pandemic.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/baby-aidan-on-changing-table-royalty-free-image/528169224">Tony Arruzza/Corbis Documentary via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em> </p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than a third of Massachusetts households with a child under 5 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/heq.2021.0093">didn’t have enough diapers</a> to change their child as often as needed, according to our survey. A baby without enough diapers might have <a href="https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(20)31360-3/fulltext">more doctor visits</a> for diaper rash and urinary tract infections. But we also found a link between diaper need and other concerns, like depression and chronic illness, that are less obvious and seemingly unrelated. </p>
<p>Our data for this study came from an online survey of Massachusetts residents led by <a href="https://www.gbfb.org/">The Greater Boston Food Bank</a> from October 2020 and to January 2021. Food bank epidemiologist Rachel Zack and data analyst Nick Birk helped us compile, analyze and interpret the survey data. </p>
<p>We looked at more than 3,000 responses from participants in the food bank’s survey. Of those, we selected the 353 respondents who reported having a child age 4 or under using diapers. We then asked them specifically, “If you have children in diapers, do you ever feel that you do not have enough diapers to change them as often as you would like?” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Seven disposable white baby diapers with colorful trim are grouped in a tray with numbers drawn on them in marker." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459157/original/file-20220421-22-w9rf7e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C17%2C5973%2C3970&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459157/original/file-20220421-22-w9rf7e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459157/original/file-20220421-22-w9rf7e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459157/original/file-20220421-22-w9rf7e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459157/original/file-20220421-22-w9rf7e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459157/original/file-20220421-22-w9rf7e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459157/original/file-20220421-22-w9rf7e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Homes without enough diapers were also more likely to have depression and chronic illness among family members.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/baby-shower-diaper-decorations-royalty-free-image/537630792">MZiello/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We found that 36% of families with young children went without enough diapers during the pandemic.</p>
<p>But diaper need is about more than bare baby bottoms. We found that in households with the greatest diaper need there is also a greater likelihood of other significant concerns. For example, we found that people who reported diaper need were also more likely to report symptoms of depression or living in a home where someone had a chronic illness. </p>
<p>Previous research has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122420977480">highlighted the stress</a> of needing but being unable to get diapers for a baby. The link between diaper need and chronic illness adds substantial evidence that households dealing with health issues are more likely to struggle with other hardships like food insecurity and unmet medical needs.</p>
<p>Among those at greater risk of not having enough diapers are parents or caregivers under 26 years of age, Latino parents or caregivers and people with less than a high school education. This might be related to the relatively limited resources these parents and caregivers have to draw upon to meet their daily needs.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Diapers are an essential child care need and a significant expense for families with young children. The <a href="https://nationaldiaperbanknetwork.org/">National Diaper Bank Network</a> defines “diaper need” as “lacking a sufficient supply of diapers to keep an infant or child clean, dry and healthy.” The group estimates that the average cost of a month’s supply of diapers is US$80-$100. Public aid programs for families with low incomes generally do not provide diapers. </p>
<p>We had previously identified links between diaper need and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101332">food-related hardship</a>. Our newer study sheds light on the situation during the COVID-19 pandemic and brings more income-related findings, such as the fact that diaper need is more common in households where someone lost a job. We also found more need for diapers in households with a 2019 income of less than $50,000 than in those with higher incomes. Speaking of income, our findings show that pandemic diaper need persisted despite most U.S. households’ receiving federal economic stimulus payments and diaper banks’ expanding distribution. Without these factors, there might have been more families in the state without enough diapers.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>We used mathematical weighting to get data representing the Massachusetts population. But we haven’t yet looked into diaper need in other states or nationally.</p>
<p>It’s also not yet clear what the most effective solutions are for families lacking enough diapers for their babies. We have not measured the effectiveness of diaper banks or other diaper distribution models. Legislation proposed in Massachusetts would create a <a href="https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/S125">diaper distribution program</a> or give qualifying families <a href="https://malegislature.gov/Bills/192/H280">$30 to purchase diapers</a> each month. </p>
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<p>Congress also has considered creating <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1846">federal funding</a> for diaper distribution programs, in 2019 and <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/259">again in 2021</a>. And in February, lawmakers proposed allowing families to <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/3660">cover the cost</a> of diapers with health savings or flexible spending accounts. If these programs become reality, studying their impact and effectiveness could prove useful.</p>
<p>Previous research already has found, however, that providing diapers to families needing them has benefits beyond the obvious. In a 2017 study of families with low incomes, life in their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-017-2317-9">households improved</a> when they received diapers from a local diaper bank. Parents reported more positive moods, along with improved health and happiness of their children. Diaper distribution increased family members’ attendance at school, work and child care centers.
And families were also able to divert household finances toward other basic needs, including utilities and medical care.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178498/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily H. Belarmino receives funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Vermont Gund Institute for Environment and Office of the Provost and Vice President.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lauren A. Clay receives funding from the National Science Foundation, National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Gulf Research Program, and Tufts University. </span></em></p>Researchers find that households without enough diapers for their children are more likely to struggle with other hardships.Emily Belarmino, Assistant Professor of Public Health Nutrition, University of VermontLauren A. Clay, Associate Professor of Emergency Health Services, University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1752242022-02-10T16:21:53Z2022-02-10T16:21:53ZHeat waves hit the poor hardest – calculating the rising impact on those least able to adapt to the warming climate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444362/original/file-20220203-25-nadrok.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C3000%2C1985&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Banana plantation workers in Panama find shade under a vehicle during a break.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/indian-migrant-workers-rest-in-the-shadow-of-a-transport-news-photo/156543327">Jan Sochor/Latincontent/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Spend time in a developing country during a heat wave and it quickly becomes clear why poorer nations face some of the greatest risks from climate change. Most homes <a href="https://www.iea.org/commentaries/helping-a-warming-world-to-keep-cool">don’t have air conditioning</a>, and even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2018.01.004">health clinics can get overheated</a>.</p>
<p>These countries tend to be in the hottest parts of world, and <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-why-africas-heatwaves-are-a-forgotten-impact-of-climate-change">their risk</a> of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00079-6">dangerous heat waves</a> is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-08070-4">rising as the planet warms</a>. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EF002488">published study</a>, our team of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=S1J4kAoAAAAJ&hl=en">climate</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=tGGNDyUAAAAJ">scientists</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=044CgyIAAAAJ&view_op=list_works">economists</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZaW8ZbsAAAAJ&hl=en">engineers</a> found that the poorest parts of the world are likely to be two to five times more exposed to heat waves than richer countries by the 2060s. By the end of the century, the lowest-income quarter of the global population’s heat exposure will almost match that of the entire rest of the world.</p>
<h2>Capacity to adapt to rising heat is crucial</h2>
<p>Heat waves are often assessed by how frequent or intense they are, but vulnerability involves more than that. </p>
<p>A key factor in the amount of harm heat waves cause is people’s capacity to adapt with measures like cooling technology and the power to run it.</p>
<p>To assess how heat wave exposure is changing, we analyzed heat waves around the world over the past 40 years and then used climate models to project ahead. Importantly, we also incorporated estimates of countries’ ability to adapt to rising temperatures and lower their heat exposure risk. </p>
<p>We found that while wealthy countries can buffer their risk by rapidly investing in measures to adapt to climate change, the poorest quarter of the world – areas likely to be slower to adapt – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2021EF002488">will face escalating heat risk</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444125/original/file-20220202-23-1kgsye4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Charts show increasing heat wave exposure for low-income people" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444125/original/file-20220202-23-1kgsye4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444125/original/file-20220202-23-1kgsye4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444125/original/file-20220202-23-1kgsye4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444125/original/file-20220202-23-1kgsye4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444125/original/file-20220202-23-1kgsye4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444125/original/file-20220202-23-1kgsye4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444125/original/file-20220202-23-1kgsye4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The highest exposure to heat waves is expected in the lowest-income countries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021EF002488">Mohammad Reza Alizadeh</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Poverty slows the ability to adapt to rising heat</h2>
<p>Heat waves are among the deadliest climate and weather-related disasters, and they can be destructive to crops, livestock and infrastructure. Currently, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3322">about 30% of the global population</a> lives in areas where heat and humidity levels can be deadly on at least 20 days a year, studies show, and the risk is rising.</p>
<p>Adaptation measures, such as cooling centers, home-cooling technology, urban planning and <a href="https://www.vox.com/22557563/how-to-redesign-cities-for-heat-waves-climate-change">designs focused on reducing heat</a>, can lower a population’s heat exposure impact. However, a country’s ability to implement adaptation measures generally depends on its <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.565">financial resources, governance, culture and knowledge</a>. Poverty affects each. Many <a href="https://www.oecd.org/env/cc/2502872.pdf">developing countries struggle to provide basic services</a> let alone protections from escalating disasters in a warmer future.</p>
<p>The compounding effects of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.565">economic, institutional and political</a> factors cause a lag in low-income countries’ ability to adapt to the changing climate.</p>
<p>We estimate that the poorest quarter of the world lags the wealthiest in adapting to rising temperatures by about 15 years on average. This estimate is based on the pace of preparation and support for adaptation plans described in the <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/adaptation-gap-report-2020">U.N. Environment Program’s Adaptation Gap Report</a>. The actual lag will vary because of wealth inequities, but that estimate provides a broad picture of the rising risks.</p>
<h2>Heat risk is up globally, but more in poor regions</h2>
<p>Looking back over recent decades, we found a 60% increase in heat wave days in the 2010s compared with the 1980s. We defined a heat wave as extreme daily temperatures above the 97th percentile for the area, for at least three consecutive days. </p>
<p>We also found that heat wave seasons were getting longer, with more frequent early- and late-season heat waves that can increase heat-related deaths.</p>
<p>Our analysis showed that people’s average heat wave exposure in the poorest quarter of the world during the 2010s was more than 40% greater than in the wealthiest quarter – roughly 2.4 billion person-days of heat wave exposure per year compared with 1.7 billion. A person-day is the number of people exposed to the heat wave times the number of days.</p>
<p>This heat wave risk in poor countries has often been <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-why-africas-heatwaves-are-a-forgotten-impact-of-climate-change">overlooked</a> by the developed world, in part because <a href="https://theconversation.com/extreme-heat-is-a-threat-to-lives-in-africa-but-its-not-being-monitored-149921">heat deaths aren’t consistently tracked</a> in many countries.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in shorts and a T-shirt sits in a store selling electric fans." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444365/original/file-20220203-15-8b4t59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444365/original/file-20220203-15-8b4t59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444365/original/file-20220203-15-8b4t59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444365/original/file-20220203-15-8b4t59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444365/original/file-20220203-15-8b4t59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444365/original/file-20220203-15-8b4t59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444365/original/file-20220203-15-8b4t59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fans can help, when people have electricity to run them. A man in India waits for customers on a day in 2020 when parts of the country expected to reach 122 degrees Fahrenheit.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-waits-for-customers-displaying-fans-at-his-store-amid-news-photo/1215441006">Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By the 2030s, we project that the lowest-income quarter of the world’s population will face 12.3 billion person-days of heat wave exposure, compared with 15.3 billion for the rest of the world combined. </p>
<p>By the 2090s, we estimated it will reach 19.8 billion person-days of heat wave exposure in the poorest quarter, almost as much heat wave exposure as the three higher-income quarters together. </p>
<h2>Climate justice and future needs</h2>
<p>The results provide more evidence that investing in adaptation worldwide will be crucial to avoid climate-driven human disasters.</p>
<p>The world’s wealthiest nations, which have produced the lion’s share of greenhouse gases driving climate change, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02846-3">promised over a decade ago to direct US$100 billion annually</a> by 2020 to help the poor countries adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects. <a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/climate-finance-roadmap-to-us100-billion.pdf">Some of that money is flowing</a>, but wealthy countries <a href="https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/frances-macron-says-leaders-finalised-accord-on-$100-bln-in-climate-finance">have been slow to meet the goal</a>.</p>
<p>Studies meanwhile have estimated that economic loss from future climate damage in developing countries will reach <a href="https://us.boell.org/en/unpacking-finance-loss-and-damage">between $290 billion and $580 billion</a> <a href="https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/582427/rr-impacts-low-aggregate-indcs-ambition-251115-en.pdf;jsessionid=C2BF26E9CF0705630671F3821B7C7AE9?sequence=1">a year</a> by 2030 and continue to escalate.</p>
<p>Increasing international assistance can help poorer countries adapt to the harm caused by climate change. Companies and innovators can also play an important role by developing low-cost microgrid electricity and cooling technology to help poor countries survive escalating heat waves.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175224/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The risk from heat waves is about more than intensity – being able to cool off is essential, and that’s hard to find in many low-income areas of the world.Mojtaba Sadegh, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Boise State UniversityJohn Abatzoglou, Associate Professor of Engineering, University of California, MercedMohammad Reza Alizadeh, Postdoctoral Researcher in Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1748802022-02-09T13:23:34Z2022-02-09T13:23:34ZDisasters can wipe out affordable housing for years unless communities plan ahead – the loss hurts the entire local economy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442025/original/file-20220121-19-uqha1r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C13%2C3000%2C1980&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Slow recovery for vulnerable households can slow the recovery of the entire community.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/james-strickland-stands-on-the-porch-of-his-fathers-home-news-photo/1358601400">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The tornadoes and wildfires that devastated communities from <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/13/us/kentucky-tornadoes-storms-monday/index.html">Kentucky</a> to <a href="https://www.bouldercounty.org/disasters/wildfires/marshall/">Colorado</a> in the final weeks of 2021 left thousands of people displaced or homeless. For many of them, it will be months if not years before their homes are rebuilt.</p>
<p>That’s especially hard on low-income residents.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hILMtUQAAAAJ&hl=en">professor of urban planning</a>, I study the impact of disasters on affordable housing, resilience and recovery. The losses of hundreds of homes in towns across the Midwest and in Boulder County, Colorado, show two sides of that impact and illustrate why communities need to plan now to protect their most vulnerable residents as their towns recover. In doing so, they also protect their economies.</p>
<h2>Why low-income households face higher risks</h2>
<p>Middle- and low-income households tend to occupy the riskiest homes in communities for a few key reasons.</p>
<p>First, land values tend to be lower in areas that are risky or otherwise less desirable, such as low-lying areas that are known to flood, near toxic facilities or in outlying areas that fail to enforce codes designed to protect homes. The housing that gets built there tends to be more affordable.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman and teenager stand outside a damaged house." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442618/original/file-20220125-21-1lwxb0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442618/original/file-20220125-21-1lwxb0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442618/original/file-20220125-21-1lwxb0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442618/original/file-20220125-21-1lwxb0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442618/original/file-20220125-21-1lwxb0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442618/original/file-20220125-21-1lwxb0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442618/original/file-20220125-21-1lwxb0f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘It could happen anywhere, but I just never thought here,’ said Chasity Walton, whose home in Mayfield, Kentucky, was hit by a tornado on Dec. 15, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/chasity-walton-and-her-son-kvon-hardaway-walk-away-from-news-photo/1359227009">Brandon Bell/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Second, as communities grow, older homes become more affordable through a process called “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X9101100106">filtering</a>,” where wealthier households move into newer housing, leaving older, more dilapidated homes available for lower-income households. Older <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X14531828">homes were often built under less stringent building codes</a> and typically are less-well maintained, which can make them more physically vulnerable.</p>
<p>Third, durable patterns of historical segregation and ongoing discrimination in real estate and lending can compound these problems by limiting Black and Hispanic families’ ability to afford lower-risk neighborhoods.</p>
<p>Research has shown consistently that lower-income households are not only <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2011.624528">more likely to suffer damage in a natural disaster</a>, but they are more likely to take <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2014.980440">much longer – two to three times longer – to recover</a>.</p>
<p>Poverty and other household characteristics, such as being headed by a single mother, having racial or ethnic minority status, low levels of education, a disability, or renting rather than owning one’s home, define what <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203714775/risk-ben-wisner-piers-blaikie-terry-cannon-ian-davis">researchers call “social vulnerability</a>.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man with a can sits on cabinets in what remains of his kitchen after a tornado. The roof and walls are gone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442642/original/file-20220125-21-1fh4apn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442642/original/file-20220125-21-1fh4apn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442642/original/file-20220125-21-1fh4apn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442642/original/file-20220125-21-1fh4apn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442642/original/file-20220125-21-1fh4apn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442642/original/file-20220125-21-1fh4apn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442642/original/file-20220125-21-1fh4apn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research shows that socially vulnerable households have less capacity to prepare for and respond to disasters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/bogdan-gaicki-surveys-tornado-damage-after-extreme-weather-news-photo/1237193981">Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The location and quality of housing, combined with the vulnerability of residents, means that those most affected by disasters are often those least able to recover from them.</p>
<h2>Slow recovery affects the entire community</h2>
<p>Communities need to understand that slow recovery for vulnerable households can slow the recovery of the overall community.</p>
<p>Researchers have found that <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0042098011428178">housing recovery is strongly linked to business recovery</a>. Workers need housing so they can return to work, and businesses need workers so they can resume operations.</p>
<p>Rockport, Texas, where Hurricane Harvey made landfall in 2017, offers a cautionary tale. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2018/08/24/hurricane-harvey-year-later-rockport-cant-find-housing-evacuees/">A year after the hurricane</a>, hotels and restaurants – even those that were part of national chains – struggled to reopen for Rockport’s critical tourist season due to the loss of affordable housing for workers. Many of those workers had relocated to San Antonio, two and a half hours away.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1476909270302027777"}"></div></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in sweatpants and no shoes appears distraught standing in the parking lot of a damaged motel." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442644/original/file-20220125-23-1p2rfah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442644/original/file-20220125-23-1p2rfah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442644/original/file-20220125-23-1p2rfah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442644/original/file-20220125-23-1p2rfah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442644/original/file-20220125-23-1p2rfah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442644/original/file-20220125-23-1p2rfah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442644/original/file-20220125-23-1p2rfah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When rental properties are destroyed by disasters, workers who keep local restaurants and businesses running often have little choice but to leave.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/resident-of-the-the-cardinal-inn-in-bowling-green-kentucky-news-photo/1237166139">Gunnar Word/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Many homes can’t be replaced for the same price</h2>
<p>Housing recovery typically gets left to the market. For homeowning households with good insurance, the market works reasonably well. But for lower-income households, including renters, it can be difficult to return to their homes or even their original neighborhoods.</p>
<p>In depressed markets with low-value homes, like many of those impacted by the December tornadoes in Kentucky and the Midwest, replacement values are not enough to rebuild equivalent housing. Home values in these areas may average under US$100,000. It is nearly impossible to build a home for that today.</p>
<p>Hot markets like Boulder County, Colorado, face a different challenge. Rebuilding in those markets allows developers and speculators to take advantage of redevelopment opportunities. Research suggests that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01944363.2014.980440">affordable housing will almost always be replaced by more expensive housing</a> targeted to a wealthier demographic. And for low-income residents who rent and lose their homes to disasters, there is little chance that they will be able to return to their original development. Little is known about where they end up.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442645/original/file-20220125-21-klgkby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An aerial view of a neighborhood mostly reduced to rubble with the exception of one home." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442645/original/file-20220125-21-klgkby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442645/original/file-20220125-21-klgkby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442645/original/file-20220125-21-klgkby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442645/original/file-20220125-21-klgkby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442645/original/file-20220125-21-klgkby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442645/original/file-20220125-21-klgkby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442645/original/file-20220125-21-klgkby.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The fire in Boulder County, Colorado, wiped out entire neighborhoods in December 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-aerial-view-burned-homes-sit-in-a-neighborhood-news-photo/1237535171">Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Safety nets exist but are inadequate.</p>
<p>Short-term assistance from <a href="https://www.fema.gov/assistance/individual">FEMA’s Individual Assistance Program</a> helps displaced households find temporary housing and make repairs to homes that qualify. Assistance can also come from <a href="https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/comm_planning/cdbg">Community Development Block Grants</a> from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, but these funds take months and even years to arrive, and spending plans submitted by states often misdirect funds and have almost no oversight.</p>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>What then, can be done to ensure vulnerable residents can rebuild and return? A few communities have tried new ideas.</p>
<p>La Grange, Texas, which flooded during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, <a href="https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/189335">is experimenting with community land trusts</a>. These involve cooperative ownership of land coupled with individual ownership of units. Residents must occupy the unit for a prescribed period of time and gain only a small percentage of increases in land value, with the rest going to the co-op. This approach allows residents to pool resources for land purchases and maintains affordability over time.</p>
<p>Boulder County <a href="https://boulderreportinglab.org/2022/01/13/boulder-emergency-order-relaxing-rental-requirements-marshall-fire/">relaxed its rental rules</a> to help displaced residents find temporary homes after the fire. </p>
<p>Monitoring recovery funds closely is also important to ensure they help those most in need. Following the 2008 Hurricanes Ike and Dolly, the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service, now called Texas Housers, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=r5C_DQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PT10&dq=info:AMlQbxPM9eoJ:scholar.google.com&ots=JbwjyfHvXA&sig=MhBCeiKi6U0nNq20iUjE5Sf_qIk#v=onepage&q&f=false">sued the State of Texas</a>, claiming the state recovery plan failed to address the needs of the most vulnerable Texans. The resulting agreement brought an additional $3 billion in aid, and ongoing monitoring of funding has ensured it helped rebuild hundreds of homes for low-income families.</p>
<p>Nearly every community in the United States is increasingly vulnerable to some kind of natural disaster due to climate change. A Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/01/05/climate-disasters-2021-fires/">analysis of federal disaster declarations</a> found that 40% of Americans lived in counties that were hit with extreme climate-related weather in 2021 alone.</p>
<p>Planning disaster recovery to ensure that the most vulnerable members of communities can return will result in greater resilience and community vitality.</p>
<p>[<em>Learn more: Watch The Conversation’s <a href="https://youtu.be/VZrAENmklLk">climate change adaptation webinar</a> with Shannon Van Zandt.</em>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174880/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shannon Van Zandt's research on housing and disasters has been funded by the National Science Foundation. She is also affiliated with Texas Housers as a member of the board; she receives no remuneration for this service.</span></em></p>The most affordable homes face the highest risks from disasters for three key reasons.Shannon Van Zandt, Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1711852021-11-23T13:29:14Z2021-11-23T13:29:14ZCareer-based classes keep students more engaged<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431205/original/file-20211110-21-1w4w3pd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C25%2C5682%2C3763&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Career technical education courses are linked to higher rates of school engagement for high schoolers from low-income backgrounds. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/male-instructor-and-trainees-watching-while-woman-royalty-free-image/1180593580?adppopup=true">Maskot/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Taking a STEM-related career and technical education course in high school makes low-income students more engaged in school than those who don’t take such a course. This is what education scholars <a href="https://www.gse.upenn.edu/academics/faculty-directory/gottfried">Michael Gottfried</a>, <a href="https://ed.unc.edu/people/daniel-klasik/">Daniel Klasik</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=6UdaRNkAAAAJ&hl=en">I</a> found in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F23328584211053324">our study</a> using survey data from nearly 20,000 high school students across the country.</p>
<p>We found that career and technical education courses related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics were linked with higher engagement in the 11th grade for low-income students. This finding held after taking key student and school characteristics into account, such as student attitudes and academic histories.</p>
<p>By higher engagement, we mean that these students were more likely to show up to school and be prepared for class. They were also less likely to be suspended. Interestingly, we did not find that these courses had the same effect – or any effect at all – for students from middle- or high-income families.</p>
<p>Career and technical education courses in general are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811411600703">designed to be engaging</a>. STEM-related career and technical education courses focus on engineering technology and computer science. These courses teach students applied skills through hands-on experiences. They are meant to prepare students for success in both college and career.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>As schools shifted to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, many students became <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/20210608-impacts-of-covid19.pdf">disengaged from school</a>. </p>
<p>Prior to the pandemic, students from low-income backgrounds in particular had <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_24">lower engagement</a> than students from middle- or high-income backgrounds. During the pandemic, students from low-income backgrounds who were already dealing with issues such as food insecurity, homelessness and access to technology no longer had a physical location to attend school. This <a href="https://www.aecf.org/blog/reengaging-students-who-lost-their-way-during-the-pandemic">led to further disengagement</a>. In Michigan alone, the pandemic resulted in a decrease in enrollment of <a href="https://detroit.chalkbeat.org/2020/12/8/22163735/enrollment-down-in-mi-pandemic">53,000 students</a>, many of whom simply stopped going to school. These losses were particularly heavy in urban areas, where low-income families tend to live.</p>
<p>Studies show that students who are more engaged in school have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2004.tb08283.x">better grades and test scores</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003583">better chances of graduating</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02732170701796429">fewer behavioral problems</a> and are <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/491805/pdf">more likely to earn more</a> later in life. STEM-related career and technical education courses are also related to several of these same <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0895904816673738">outcomes</a>. </p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to know exactly what goes on in STEM-related career and technical education courses on a large scale. While individual teachers know what they teach and what their students learn, it’s difficult to identify what students are learning or how teachers are teaching different classes in different schools. </p>
<p>Also, we don’t know exactly what might motivate a student to choose a STEM-related career and technical education course over a fine arts or other elective class.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>Exploring the long-term benefits of STEM-related career and technical education courses is a crucial next step. For example, it will be important to explore whether these courses actually lead to jobs, which we are looking at in some current projects. </p>
<p>Additionally, low-income students are less likely to take STEM-related career and technical education courses than middle- and high-income students. This is unfortunate because STEM careers are both in <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-10/why-computer-occupations-are-behind-strong-stem-employment-growth.htm">high demand</a> and <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/recognizing-stem-occupations-on-stem-day.htm">provide high wages</a>. Future research will need to explore how to encourage low-income students to take these courses. </p>
<p>Ultimately, career and technical education may provide an interesting opportunity to look at student success as more than just a test score. Rather, it will enable educators to measure success in terms of being ready for a career.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation’s politics, science or religion articles each week.</em><a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-best">Sign up today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/171185/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research study was funded by the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education</span></em></p>Students from low-income backgrounds fare better when they are able to take career and technical classes in STEM, new research shows.Jay Stratte Plasman, Assistant Professor in Workforce Development and Education at The Ohio State University, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1705162021-10-28T12:34:07Z2021-10-28T12:34:07ZState spending on anti-poverty programs could substantially reduce child abuse and neglect<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428868/original/file-20211027-23-7v8rbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2075%2C1377&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Public spending aimed at reducing poverty can lead to deep reductions in child maltreatment and could improve overall child well-being. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/father-and-son-going-to-kindergarten-royalty-free-image/1288962069?adppopup=true">shih-wei/ E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>States’ financial investments in public benefit programs for low-income families are associated with less child abuse and neglect, also known as maltreatment. These investments are also associated with less need for foster care and maltreatment-related deaths, according to our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2021-050685">recent publication in the journal Pediatrics</a>.</p>
<p>Our research team included the two of us – <a href="https://www.childrensmercy.org/profiles/hank-t-puls/">Hank Puls</a>, a pediatrician who <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=qkBLs3YAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">conducts research on the prevention of child maltreatment</a>, and <a href="https://medschool.kp.org/about/leadership/paul-chung">Paul Chung</a>, who studies childhood determinants of adult health – as well as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=8o47xsAAAAAJ&hl=en">Matthew Hall</a>, <a href="https://www.childrensmercy.org/profiles/james-d-anderst/">James Anderst</a>, <a href="https://www.kumc.edu/tgurley-calvez.html">Tami Gurley</a> and <a href="https://www.massgeneral.org/children/research/james-perrin">James Perrin</a>. </p>
<p>Our study examined the relationship between states’ rates of child maltreatment and their annual spending per person in poverty on major benefit programs from 2010 to 2017. Benefit programs included those providing cash, housing or material resources, childcare assistance, refundable earned income tax credits and medical assistance programs such as Medicaid. </p>
<p>Our findings indicate that an increase of US$1,000, or 13%, in annual spending per person in poverty on these programs by all 50 states and Washington, D.C., might be associated with approximately 181,000 fewer children reported for maltreatment, 28,500 fewer victims, 4,100 fewer children entering foster care and 130 fewer children dying – every year.</p>
<p>Our results also suggest that reductions in child maltreatment might provide fiscal returns in the long term for states and society. The 13% increase in spending amounted to $46.5 billion nationally. We estimate these reductions might return $1.5 billion to $9.3 billion in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.09.018">avoided economic burdens associated with maltreatment</a> in the short term, but as much as $25.8 billion to $153.2 billion over the course of children’s lives.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Child maltreatment is a public health crisis. By 18 years of age, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.410">at least 1 in 8 U.S. children</a> will have experienced abuse or neglect. This leads to poorer <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61706-7">overall health and mental health</a>, as well as worse <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.12.022">socioeconomic outcomes</a>, for those individuals and society.</p>
<p>We believe that our study serves as an example of how benefit programs might have positive effects beyond their stated objectives. Benefit programs likely have powerful, broad and unmeasured effects on a host of health issues – the combined impacts of which might dwarf those found for child maltreatment alone. </p>
<p>For example, Medicaid expansion improves <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/report/the-effects-of-medicaid-expansion-under-the-aca-updated-findings-from-a-literature-review/">health care access</a> and some <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.12345">health</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.00776">mental health</a> outcomes. Medicaid also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0331">significantly reduces poverty</a> and can reduce <a href="https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2016.1650">parental stress</a>. Our study suggests that that one such “side effect” of benefit programs may be improving families’ overall well-being to the extent that fewer children are abused or neglected.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>A more nuanced understanding of how benefit programs might prevent child maltreatment is needed. <a href="https://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/bar/44-children-in-poverty-by-race-and-ethnicity?loc=1&loct=2#1/any/false/1729/10,11,9,12,1/323">Poverty</a> is not equally distributed among all children in the U.S., and how these programs might affect maltreatment and other health-related disparities in specific populations remains unknown.</p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic may have led to an <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/opinion/coronavirus-child-abuse.html">increased risk for child maltreatment</a>. But it’s still unclear whether economic relief, such as the CARES Act and eviction protections, aided in reducing some of the perceived risk, if at all.</p>
<p>More recently, the American Rescue Plan Act provided direct economic relief to Americans and included fundamental changes to tax credits, such as the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit. These changes increased income for families and, in some cases, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2021/05/27/the-american-families-plan-too-many-tax-credits-for-children/">better allocated benefits to the lowest income Americans</a>. President Biden’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/04/28/fact-sheet-the-american-families-plan/">American Families Plan</a> proposes to extend those tax credit reforms and additionally invest in child care and early education. It will be critical to examine how these policy changes to benefit programs might influence poverty, child maltreatment and well-being, in general.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We believe that ample opportunities remain to responsibly invest in public benefit programs. For example, <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions-interactive-map/">12 states have yet to expand Medicaid</a>, over 30 million Americans remain uninsured, <a href="https://aspe.hhs.gov/reports/factsheet-estimates-child-care-eligibility-receipt-fiscal-year-2017">6 in 7 eligible families do not receive child care assistance</a> and <a href="https://www.aappublications.org/news/2021/09/14/childpovertyreport091421">1 in 6 U.S. children</a> still live in poverty. </p>
<p>Our findings provide optimism that public benefit programs can not only lift families out of poverty but also address child maltreatment and improve health more broadly.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 110,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170516/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Public investments in benefit programs could save tens of thousands of children from being victims of child abuse and have important later-life effects on child welfare and overall health.Henry T. Puls, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Children's Mercy Kansas City, University of Missouri-Kansas CityPaul J. Chung, Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics and Health Policy and Management, University of California, Los AngelesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1700842021-10-27T12:19:23Z2021-10-27T12:19:23ZCollege cost calculators aren’t precise, but they could easily be made better<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428340/original/file-20211025-27-1lhhjxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C4920%2C3570&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">College expenses determined by net price calculators can vary by an average of $5,700.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mixed-race-mother-and-daughter-using-laptop-royalty-free-image/476803847?adppopup=true">Ariel Skelley/DigitalVision via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The best way to figure out how much you have to pay for college is not to go by the sticker price. Instead, it’s to go by a college’s net price, which is often much lower. That’s because the net price tells you how much you have to pay to attend a particular school after you get your financial aid.</p>
<p>So why would anyone go by the sticker price when they could go by the more accurate net price? The main reason is that the net price is often unknown until after you get a college offer letter. These offer letters spell out how much financial aid you can expect.</p>
<p>One way to speed up how fast you can calculate the net price for a school is to use an online tool called a <a href="https://collegecost.ed.gov/net-price">net price calculator</a>. As its name suggests, a net price calculator is meant to give you a better sense of the actual price you have to pay to go to a particular college. The net price calculator does this by providing a more individualized price estimate based on you or your family’s financial circumstances.</p>
<p>You might think all net price calculators are created equal. As researchers who study the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=q98teuMAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">economics</a> of <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=PVTM08QAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">higher education</a>, we can tell you they are not.</p>
<p>In a 2021 peer-reviewed study, we found that the prices determined by net price calculators <a href="https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00353">vary by an average of US$5,700 per student</a> for students from families with the same or similar economic situations. That means the price determined by a net price calculator can be off by plus or minus $5,700. That’s pretty significant because – over the course of four years – that adds up to $22,800 and can determine whether and how much you need to borrow in student loans.</p>
<h2>Differences in calculators</h2>
<p>Some net price calculators are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0895904819867398">more user-friendly</a> than others.</p>
<p>Some of them ask students to provide financial information that is <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED611240.pdf">hard to access</a>. For others, the calculators might provide cost of attendance information – as well as grant aid information – that <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2555051">could be outdated</a>.</p>
<p>Since all net price calculators don’t work the same way, it can also be <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED611240.pdf">hard to compare</a> prices from different schools.</p>
<p>The U.S. Department of Education provides a free <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/netpricecalculator/#/">net price calculator template</a>. It doesn’t require that much information, and most student users can provide the information on their own. </p>
<h2>Proposed improvements</h2>
<p>There’s a bill in Congress that aims to improve net price calculators. It’s called the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1448?r=45&s=1">Net Price Calculator Improvement Act</a>. </p>
<p>Introduced in April 2021 by Sen. Charles “Chuck” Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, the bill would create a minimum set of requirements for net price calculators. It would also allow for the U.S. Department of Education to create a universal net price calculator that would have students answer one set of questions and get net price estimates for several schools.</p>
<p>The bill has only a <a href="https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/s1448">3% chance of becoming law</a>, according to a website that scores bills based on their chances of being passed.</p>
<p>The federal net price calculator template requests information about a student’s household income. This is reportable in increments of $10,000 that range from $30,000 to $99,999. It also asks what your family size is, whether you plan to live in a college dorm or off-campus and how many family members are in college. This in turn allows the federal template net price calculator to generate identical financial aid estimates for similar students attending the same postsecondary institution. However, actual aid awards may be very different.</p>
<h2>In search of a fix</h2>
<p>Since figuring out financial aid is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775716301248?casa_token=JCWaXtmINpAAAAAA:QnNtKnhx-2HwG2fVDMHioEj1pGC6tcTGe-py8XGnTjvdkmwp2sNSQjeLcJ1dIgyexFYVQO_exQ">not easy to do</a>, we identified three simple changes that would make the federal net price calculator template more accurate.</p>
<h2>1. High school GPA</h2>
<p>Even though a lot of colleges and universities award merit-based aid – basically scholarships – the current template does not request any academic information. A simple change like asking students for their high school GPA could help better predict merit-based grants. On the user-facing side of the calculator, students would just enter their GPA. On the back end, where colleges enter their aid information, colleges could set up GPA requirements for students to get various scholarships offered through the school.</p>
<h2>2. Anticipated financial aid application timing</h2>
<p>Different colleges have <a href="https://studentaid.gov/articles/know-your-fafsa-deadlines/">different deadlines</a> for financial aid from within. If net price calculators could capture the date when a student plans to apply for financial aid, the calculator could include only aid the student would be eligible to receive. For example, if a student submits an application after a college’s institutional aid deadline but before a state or federal deadline, then the school’s calculator would include only state and federal aid in the net price estimate.</p>
<h2>3. Expanded income bracket</h2>
<p>The current income categories top out at $99,999, meaning that a family earning $100,000 is treated identically to a family earning 10 times that amount. An additional option of $100,000-$150,000 would help to distinguish upper-middle-income families from upper-income families. According to table A-2 on <a href="https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2021/demo/income-poverty/p60-273.html">this Census website</a>, 15.3% of the 129.9 million households in the U.S. – or 19.9 million households – have incomes between $100,000 and $150,000.</p>
<p>The average undergraduate student from a family with a household income between $100,000 and $150,000 receives more than $4,400 in grant aid. This is according to a <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/npsas/">National Postsecondary Student Aid Study</a> from 2016 – the most recent data available.</p>
<h2>Better estimates</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp_a_00353">Our study</a> included 7,600 students at 900 different colleges and universities. We had an even mix of public and private colleges. </p>
<p>We found that information collected on the current version of the federal template net price calculator accounts for 70% of the variation in actual aid awards for students attending the same university. In other words, the inputs these calculators require can account for 70 cents of every dollar in aid awarded.</p>
<p>Our proposed changes can help net price calculators do a better job of estimating aid for similar students. With these additions, we found that the information that net price calculators use would predict 86 cents of each dollar in aid awarded.</p>
<p>Even if these changes were adopted, there would still be a lot of variation in the prices determined by net price calculators. The variation changes based on the type of college in question. For instance, at private, four-year institutions, amounts varied by nearly $11,000. By contrast, within community colleges, it was about $2,400.</p>
<p>Taking these figures into account, a federal net price calculator template could also help prospective students estimate high and low ends of their expected grant awards.</p>
<p>Our proposed modifications are straightforward to implement and require only basic information from student users. They also allow for a universal federal template that colleges and universities can adapt to their own financial aid award processes.</p>
<p>As Congress considers legislation to improve how net price calculators look and function, keeping the tool simple to use is one of the most important aspects to consider. Choosing a college is among the most consequential financial decisions that students and their families will ever make. More accurate and easy-to-use tools should make the decision easier than it would otherwise be.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170084/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Net price calculators – online tools meant to estimate what students will actually pay for college – can produce varying results for students in similar economic situations, researchers find.Aaron Anthony, Director of Operations, Institute for Learning, University of PittsburghLindsay Page, Adjunct associate, Brown UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1564752021-03-08T13:27:43Z2021-03-08T13:27:43ZEconomists: Biden’s $1,400 COVID-19 checks may be great politics, but it’s questionable economics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/388170/original/file-20210307-19-zp3zq0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=99%2C15%2C3190%2C2086&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Most people used the first coronavirus check to pad their savings or pay down debt.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ReliefPaymentsDelays/78fab36dfcc54b218ff3df9ae4f5aa38/photo?Query=economic%20impact%20check&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=6&currentItemNo=1">AP Photo/Eric Gay</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The US$1,400 direct checks to people are the <a href="https://www.crfb.org/blogs/whats-19-trillion-house-covid-relief-bill">most expensive</a> and <a href="https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=3688">perhaps most popular part</a> of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package racing its way through Congress right now. </p>
<p>President Joe Biden is expected to soon sign the bill after the <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/10/house-final-passage-wednesday-covid-aid-plan-475047">House on March 10 approved a version</a> of the legislation passed by the Senate a few days earlier. Moderate Senate Democrats, who had voiced concerns about how many people would receive direct payments in the original proposal endorsed by the House, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-passes-1-9-trillion-covid-relief-bill-including-1-n1259795">managed to make them more targeted</a> at lower-income households, which means an <a href="https://itep.org/new-estimates-on-senates-slightly-revised-cash-payment/">estimated 17 million fewer people will get a check</a>. </p>
<p>The coronavirus package <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/06/business/economy/biden-economy.html">contains a lot of provisions</a> that will help struggling Americans, and we understand why the checks are so popular – <a href="https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=3688">with 78% support among adults in a recent survey</a>. No one turns down extra money, after all. </p>
<p>But as economists, we also believe that these direct payments make little economic sense – even with the lower income threshold. And this is true whether you think the purpose of the checks is <a href="https://theconversation.com/relief-or-stimulus-whats-the-difference-and-what-it-means-for-bidens-1-9-trillion-coronavirus-package-155012">relief or stimulus</a>.</p>
<h2>Relief needs to be targeted</h2>
<p>First let’s consider the checks as relief. </p>
<p>The purpose of a measure primarily designed as relief during an economic crisis is to help those most affected. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.a.htm">latest jobs report shows</a> about 10 million people are unemployed, including 4.1 million who have been without a job for at least 27 weeks. That’s not to mention the millions more who have left the labor force altogether because of the pandemic. These people – mostly workers in the hospitality and leisure industries, disproportionately low-income and people of color – are in desperate need of aid and support, without which destitution and homelessness are real possibilities. </p>
<p>But for the vast majority of Americans, it’s like the pandemic never happened, financially speaking. These are mostly office workers and other professionals who have had to work from home for all or part of the pandemic but saw no change in their income. A <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2021/03/05/a-year-into-the-pandemic-long-term-financial-impact-weighs-heavily-on-many-americans/">recent Pew survey found</a> that 79% of Americans reported their family’s financial situation is about the same as or better than a year ago. </p>
<p>The most pain was unsurprisingly among lower-income households, 31% of whom said they were worse off than a year ago – but even among this group over two-thirds said their situation was the same or better. </p>
<p>The House’s measure <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-vote-biden-s-1-9-trillion-covid-relief-bill-n1258883">would have phased out</a> completely at incomes of $100,000 for single people and $200,000 for couples. The Senate version phases out at $80,000 and $160,000, which <a href="https://itep.org/new-estimates-on-senates-slightly-revised-cash-payment/">would still benefit about 280 million people</a>, including children, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonpartisan think tank.</p>
<p>This is a pretty marginal change and still means that checks will go to a lot of people who don’t really need them. </p>
<h2>Stimulus needs to stimulate</h2>
<p>OK, then how about the checks as a stimulus? So even if a lot of people who aren’t in desperate need get a payment, at least they’ll spend it and help the economy recover from the COVID-19 shock, right?</p>
<p>There are two problems with that. The first is that <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/finance/541749-february-jobs-report-biden-economy-coronavirus">it’s not clear the economy needs much stimulus right now</a>. While the jobs report showed millions of people remained unemployed, the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-05/u-s-feb-payrolls-increase-379-000-est-200-000">February numbers came in a lot better</a> than expected, adding to signs the U.S. economy is in fairly good shape. And there are also <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/inflation-worries-are-back-heres-what-you-should-worry-about-and-what-you-shouldnt-11613594872">growing concerns about inflation</a>, given the sharp rise in some market interest rates, which too much stimulus could accelerate. </p>
<p>The other issue is that past coronavirus checks haven’t been all that stimulative. The government <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/cares/assistance-for-american-workers-and-families">began cutting $1,200 “economic impact” checks</a> for most Americans back in March and sent out <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/coronavirus-stimulus-check-calculator/">another round of checks about half that size in December</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w27693">Research conducted on the first round</a> of checks found that the vast majority of Americans <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/246268/personal-savings-rate-in-the-united-states-by-month">saved</a> most of the money or used it to pay down debt. About 40% of the money went toward purchases supporting industries such as food, beauty and other nondurable consumer products that had already seen spikes in spending before the checks went out.</p>
<p>In other words, the checks weren’t very stimulative. Moreover, a third of likely recipients of the next round of checks <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-11/stimulus-checks-americans-plan-to-save-not-spend-covid-relief-money">said they would save the money</a>. </p>
<h2>A better use of the money</h2>
<p>So you might be wondering, what’s a better way to spend the <a href="https://www.crfb.org/blogs/whats-19-trillion-house-covid-relief-bill">several hundred billion dollars earmarked for checks</a>?</p>
<p>At a minimum, relief payments should be targeted, such as to people who lost jobs or are working fewer hours due to illness. But in our view, a better way would be to increase those supplemental unemployment checks from the $300 lawmakers agreed to to $600, as the first coronavirus relief measure included last March. </p>
<p>Or take the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/17/uk-announces-massive-aid-package-for-coronavirus-hit-industries.html">U.K. approach and provide targeted but generous</a> income replacement for workers affected by COVID-19. Another very helpful and focused measure would be to help people pay for their mortgages and rent – otherwise a <a href="https://time.com/5940505/housing-crisis-2021/">massive housing crisis is looming</a> on the post-pandemic horizon. </p>
<p>We believe President Biden’s COVID-19 relief bill <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/14/politics/biden-economic-rescue-package-coronavirus-stimulus/index.html">gets a lot right</a>, such as <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/legislation/2021/01/20/president-biden-announces-american-rescue-plan">significant aid to state and local governments</a>, increased food stamp benefits and additional support for small businesses. Sending one-off $1,400 checks to people experiencing no economic hardship during the pandemic is not among them.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156475/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The $1.9 trillion package gets a lot of stuff right, but the direct payments are not among them, argue two economists.Robert H. Scott III, Professor of Economics & Finance, Monmouth UniversityKenneth Mitchell, Associate Professor of Latin American Politics, Monmouth UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1551062021-02-18T13:44:36Z2021-02-18T13:44:36ZAmericans still need a lifeline despite trillions in coronavirus aid<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384866/original/file-20210217-19-1lkwz89.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C47%2C4576%2C2993&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Americas' financial desperation can be seen in the soaring demand for food assistance. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VirusOutbreakNewYork/62f1bf36663c46d0bc5f67ae256076ad/photo?Query=covid%20food%20bank%20need&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=84&currentItemNo=29">AP Photo/John Minchillo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/02/15/968028373/lawmakers-debate-bidens-1-9-trillion-covid-19-relief-plan">Congress prepares another injection</a> of COVID-19 aid for businesses and individuals, there’s been debate about whether it’s necessary on top of the <a href="https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2021/01/heres-everything-congress-has-done-to-respond-to-the-coronavirus-so-far">US$3.5 trillion spent so far</a>.</p>
<p>President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/pandemic-relief-package-what-you-need-to-know">had initially hoped to get bipartisan support</a> for his $1.9 trillion proposal, but the <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/01/31/962554923/10-senate-republicans-plan-to-detail-slimmed-down-covid-19-counteroffer">only counteroffer from Republicans</a> was a $600 billion bill, with many in the GOP suggesting more money wasn’t needed. And <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/experts-worried-about-overheating-suggest-placing-automatic-spending-curbs-on-bidens-1-9-trillion-covid-relief-bill-11612813694">some economists have expressed concern</a> that giving Americans too much right now could overheat the economy. </p>
<p>We are public opinion scholars at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. In cooperation with our partners at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and National Public Radio, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/05775132.2020.1866905">we conducted a survey in July and August of last year</a> to try to understand how the first round of aid had affected American families in need. What we found shocked us then and feels relevant now as the government negotiates its next steps.</p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2021/01/heres-everything-congress-has-done-to-respond-to-the-coronavirus-so-far">trillions of dollars</a> in government assistance, about two-thirds of families that suffered job losses or reduced wages during the pandemic still reported facing serious financial hardship. </p>
<p>Many people were struggling – <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/tracking-the-covid-19-recessions-effects-on-food-housing-and">and still are</a> – just to pay for basic necessities, like food and rent. </p>
<h2>The first round of pandemic aid</h2>
<p>Congress <a href="https://www.pgpf.org/infographic/whats-in-the-cares-act-heres-a-summary">passed most of the initial relief in March</a>, including direct payments to qualifying families, expanded unemployment benefits and loans to small businesses that turned into grants if they kept workers on their payroll. </p>
<p>By July 1, when we began our survey, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/28/business/economy/coronavirus-stimulus-unemployment.html">most Americans entitled</a> to a direct check should have received it, and unemployed adults were still receiving supplemental aid of $600 a week on top of state benefits.</p>
<p>We wanted to understand the financial burdens experienced by American families that were economically harmed by the coronavirus pandemic. And we wanted to see whether the government aid was helping the people who needed it most.</p>
<p>Using a nationally representative, randomized survey design, we contacted 3,454 adults and asked them about the financial problems facing their households. We focused on the 46% who said they or other adults in their household either lost a job, had to close a business, were furloughed or had their wages or hours reduced since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. We published our findings in the economic affairs journal Challenge in January. </p>
<h2>Serious financial problems</h2>
<p>While it seems like a no-brainer that Americans weren’t ready for the unexpected employment disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was surprising to us that federal aid and <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-25-billion-the-biggest-us-donors-gave-in-2020-says-about-high-dollar-charity-today-154466">charitable assistance</a> seemed to be doing so little to support the people it was intended to help. </p>
<p>We found that the aid didn’t put much of a dent in the financial problems faced by families earning less than $100,000, whether because relief <a href="https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/poverty-inequality-opportunity/only-one-quarter-service-sector">was delayed</a> or <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/whats-happening-to-all-the-cares-act-money">wasn’t spent</a>, the amount wasn’t adequate or the funds <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-20-701">never made it to the intended recipients</a>. </p>
<p>Among households with employment or wage losses during the pandemic, 87% of those earning less than $30,000 a year and 68% of those earning $30,000 to $99,999 told us they were still facing serious financial problems. And more than half of households in these income brackets reported they had already used up all or most of their savings – or they didn’t have savings to begin with. That share jumped to over three-quarters for people with incomes under $30,000.</p>
<p>Savings take years or decades to accumulate, so it’s likely these households are in even worse trouble now. What’s more, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/08/business/economy/lost-unemployment-benefits.html">significantly less aid has been provided</a> from the federal government since we conducted our survey.</p>
<p><iframe id="k7UjU" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/k7UjU/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Many Americans still need a lifeboat</h2>
<p>Our findings suggest there is a definite need for further government aid on a large scale for tens of millions of families.</p>
<p>A useful way to think about this is how the government provides <a href="https://training.fema.gov/emiweb/downloads/is7unit_3.pdf">relief after a natural disaster</a>. In disasters, cash payments are often sent directly to those in need, like lifeboats launched to rescue people at risk of drowning.</p>
<p>And in fact, the pandemic has been an economic disaster for some – <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/09/24/economic-fallout-from-covid-19-continues-to-hit-lower-income-americans-the-hardest/">particularly low-income and Black and Latino households</a> – more than others. They still need a lifeboat to get them through the storm. </p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155106/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary G. Findling received funding for this study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation under grant #76253.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>John M. Benson received funding for this study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation under grant #76253. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert J. Blendon received funding for this study from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation under grant #76253.
</span></em></p>A survey of the impact of the first few rounds of coronavirus aid shows that most of those who lost jobs or wages due to the pandemic were facing severe economic hardship.Mary G. Findling, Research Associate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard UniversityJohn M. Benson, Senior Research Scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard UniversityRobert J. Blendon, Richard L. Menschel Professor of Public Health and Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis, Emeritus, Harvard UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1473132020-10-06T18:55:00Z2020-10-06T18:55:00ZTrump’s decade-old audit illustrates why the IRS targets the working poor as much as the rich<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361987/original/file-20201006-24-y76qo3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=118%2C65%2C4256%2C2846&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Trump has tried to keep his taxes in the dark for years. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-donald-trump-acknowledges-the-crowd-during-the-news-photo/1149899043">Alex Wong/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The New York Times’ exclusive on President Donald Trump’s taxes contains <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/27/us/donald-trump-taxes.html">a lot of startling new findings</a>. </p>
<p>A few noteworthy examples: He paid only US$750 in federal income tax in 2016 and 2017 – and nothing at all in 10 of the previous 15 years; he took massive income tax deductions for property tax payments on a New York estate he apparently uses for personal reasons; he paid consulting fees to family members; and he took $70,000 in business deductions for haircuts. </p>
<p>The report also zeroed in on a fact that has been well known for many years yet in my mind overshadows all of the other discoveries: Trump’s taxes are under audit and <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/president-trump-has-faced-a-decade-long-audit-of-his-taxes-heres-how-long-irs-audits-usually-take-2020-10-01">have been so since at least 2011</a>. Trump claims that’s why he can’t release his taxes, though the <a href="https://www.axios.com/trump-tax-returns-irs-commissioner-audit-20ebb0a7-dc47-4177-bf4c-565aa5cfb734.html">IRS itself says that’s not the case</a>. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/30/politics/donald-trump-tax-returns-1st-debate-new-york-times/index.html">He also says</a> he has paid “millions of dollars” in taxes in recent years. </p>
<p>Why is it taking so long to audit Trump’s taxes, when the IRS <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p55b.pdf">usually wraps up its audits</a> within a year? </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=1997162">tax law expert</a>, I believe a reason Trump’s audit is taking so long is related to the IRS’s practice of targeting the working poor at rates comparable to the wealthy. It’s hard to reel in the rich and often easier to focus on the poor. </p>
<h2>The gray areas of tax law</h2>
<p>Tax law is often perceived as an exercise in crunching the numbers. The taxpayer – or an accountant – simply plugs in data from her various W-2s and 1099s, and out comes a figure. Some tax preparation services even show the taxpayer the real-time effect of each entry on the amount of tax owed.</p>
<p>In reality, tax law has plenty of gray areas, particularly for business owners, in which tax law depends on subjectively judging why a person did what he or she did.</p>
<p>When someone acts for business reasons, they should be able to deduct their expenses. As the saying goes, “You have to spend money to make money.” The federal income tax is a net income tax, meaning it respects that old saying and applies only to earnings that exceed costs. If someone is acting for personal reasons like consumption or leisure, a tax deduction is generally not allowed.</p>
<p>Uncovering the motives behind the activities of any person requires a lot of information and difficult analysis, but for someone like Trump, whose personality is his business, the task is exponentially harder.</p>
<p>For instance, is Trump’s Seven Springs estate in New York business or personal property? If it’s for business, property taxes paid on it are fully deductible. If it’s personal property, only $10,000 of the property taxes could be deducted, thanks to Trump’s own <a href="https://taxfoundation.org/tax-reform-explained-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act/">Tax Cuts and Jobs Act</a> of 2017. The answer depends on a lot of factors, such as how he promotes the property, what types of improvements he makes and what he does while there. Despite some contradictory statements from his sons, The New York Times suggests that Trump <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/27/us/donald-trump-taxes.html">has treated the Seven Springs estate as business property</a>, which would allow him to fully deduct the taxes on the estate.</p>
<p>Another gray area is the $26 million he claims in consulting fees, including ones reportedly paid to family members such as his daughter Ivanka. To determine if consulting fees paid to a family member are actually nondeductible gifts, the IRS must examine what she was asked to do and whether the fees were reasonable. It is unclear from The New York Times story what exactly Ivanka was tasked with doing to earn the almost $750,000 in fees Trump deducted.</p>
<p>As for Trump’s $70,000 in haircuts, to determine if they were deductible, the IRS must understand whether they were unique to his job on “The Apprentice.” Inherently personal expenses – <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3705646">things like grooming, meals and commuting</a> – are incredibly difficult to deduct. Trump would have to demonstrate that his business motives completely outweighed his personal ones. In other words, he would have to show that he would not have gotten haircuts but for his business. Since he deducted the cuts, we can presume his hair would have gone unkempt without the show.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testifies during a House Financial Services Committee on May 22, 2019. A screen behind him displays President Trump and a list of times he has promised to release his tax returns." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361988/original/file-20201006-18-uiexi0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/361988/original/file-20201006-18-uiexi0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361988/original/file-20201006-18-uiexi0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361988/original/file-20201006-18-uiexi0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361988/original/file-20201006-18-uiexi0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361988/original/file-20201006-18-uiexi0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/361988/original/file-20201006-18-uiexi0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trump has repeatedly promised to release his tax returns, a point raised during Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s House testimony in May 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/treasury-secretary-steven-mnuchin-testifies-during-a-house-news-photo/1150961593">Mark Wilson/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Easier targets</h2>
<p>Compounding the difficulty of sorting out these gray areas, the IRS is <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/04/09/830159777/irs-budget-cuts-and-staffing-challenges-create-coronavirus-payment-headaches">operating on a shoestring budget</a>, despite research showing that <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/budget-options/2018/54826">a dollar of investment in the IRS yields more than a dollar in tax collections</a>. Auditors must stretch their budgets to uncover the information they need and then make difficult judgment calls.</p>
<p>The IRS’s limited resources mean that <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6430680-Document-2019-9-6-Treasury-Letter-to-Wyden-RE.html">auditors end up focusing their attention</a> on cases with more straightforward issues and more accessible information. That’s why <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/policy-basics-the-earned-income-tax-credit">lower-income individuals receiving the earned income tax credit</a> were audited at a 1.2% rate in 2016, <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p55b.pdf">the most current year of mostly complete data</a>, comparable to the audit rate of roughly 1.5% for individuals earning over $500,000.</p>
<p>Typically, EITC audits are resolved within a year. That’s because examiners can look for objective facts, such as how many children are in the home, rather than sorting out subjective motives behind expenses. Often computers can quickly flag errors, making for more open-and-shut cases. </p>
<p>In addition, as my research has shown, state and federal governments already have <a href="https://scholarship.richmond.edu/law-faculty-publications/1435/">a lot of information about individuals receiving public assistance</a>, such as the earned income tax credit. Auditors don’t have to spend their limited resources getting information out of EITC recipients.</p>
<p>While auditing the poor may be easier than targeting the rich, auditing wealthier individuals is likely to do much more to close the tax gap – the difference between what is owed to Uncle Sam and what is actually collected – which the <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-tax-gap">IRS most recently estimated at about $381 billion</a>. Because <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5364.pdf">most misreported income comes from cases</a> where the taxpayer alone controls the information about the income, the IRS might collect more underpayments if it had more resources for auditing the rich. </p>
<p>[<em>Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-understand">Subscribe to The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>Letting the big fish go</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/taxpayer-bill-of-rights-8-the-right-to-confidentiality-0">Taxpayer privacy protections</a> make it impossible to know exactly why Trump is being audited. But the difficulty of sorting out these gray areas of law while Trump holds most of the relevant information almost certainly has contributed to the length of the audit.</p>
<p>If nothing else, the reporting on Trump’s taxes highlights that taxpayers like him are the biggest fish but the hardest to catch, particularly when you have a cheap rod. IRS audits have instead focused on smaller fish downstream.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147313/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hayes Holderness does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Because the rich often have complicated deductions that dabble in the gray areas of tax law, it’s simply easier to audit the straightforward taxes of the working poor.Hayes Holderness, Assistant Professor of Law, University of RichmondLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1365502020-04-23T12:10:14Z2020-04-23T12:10:14ZRenters still left out in the cold despite temporary coronavirus protection<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/329552/original/file-20200421-82645-19uj6jy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C10%2C3583%2C2441&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Protesters demanding a freeze on rents in Minneapolis. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/minneapolis-mn-april-8-tenant-right-advocates-including-news-photo/1217706737?adppopup=true">Richard Tsong-Taatarii/Star Tribune via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Emergency relief for renters across America may protect them from the threat of eviction during the coronavirus crisis – but it won’t last for long.</p>
<p>The economic shutdown necessitated by COVID-19 has undermined the ability of millions of families and individuals to pay their landlords. But <a href="https://slate.com/business/2020/03/coronavirus-senate-stimulus-rent-mortgage-eviction-foreclosure.html">current measures to alleviate their hardship</a> will not last through the summer, leaving the country at risk of a <a href="https://laist.com/2020/04/06/rent-forgiveness-homeless-covid-pandemic.php">surge of evictions and homelessness</a> within months.</p>
<p>The current crisis also hits landlords, small ones especially, who may now <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/02/coronavirus-small-landlords-struggle-as-renters-stop-payments.html">struggle to meet mortgage payments</a>, property taxes and other essential expenses. Again, the measures offered by Congress provide only limited relief.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://urbanplanning.ku.edu/kirk-mcclure">scholars of housing policy</a>, <a href="https://www.newschool.edu/public-engagement/faculty/alex-schwartz/">we know</a> that for any measure to have real impact, it will need to address problems facing both tenants and landlords. Such a solution may already exist in the <a href="https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/hcv/about/fact_sheet">Housing Choice Voucher program</a>, a 40-year-old program which enables low-income households to afford rental housing in the private market.</p>
<h2>Rental crisis</h2>
<p>The coronavirus worsens an already <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-coronavirus-pandemic-is-making-the-us-housing-crisis-even-worse-136025">severe housing affordability crisis</a>. The most recent data shows that 10.7 million households, one-quarter of all renters, <a href="https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Harvard_JCHS_State_of_the_Nations_Housing_2019.pdf">spend more than half of their income on rent</a>, including 56% of all renters earning less than US$30,000 per year. More than <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/04/12/601783346/first-ever-evictions-database-shows-were-in-the-middle-of-a-housing-crisis">2.3 million renters are evicted annually</a>. On any given night, <a href="https://files.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/2019-AHAR-Part-1.pdf">more than 500,000 people are homeless</a>, and nearly <a href="https://files.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/2017-AHAR-Part-2.pdf">three times as many went homeless</a> during the course of a single year.</p>
<p>More than <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/16/unemployment-claims-coronavirus/">20 million people have filed for unemployment benefits</a> since the shutdown began, and this number is likely to climb higher in the weeks ahead.</p>
<p>The people most at risk of losing their jobs are <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-coronavirus-recession-puts-service-workers-at-risk-134869">those who work in low-paying service industries</a> such as restaurants, hotels, personal services and the retail sector. They are also <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/assessing-the-severity-of-rent-burden-on-low-income-families-20171222.htm">disproportionately likely to rent</a> their homes.</p>
<p>Many of these workers will struggle to pay landlords in the coming months. As of 2019, the Federal Reserve reported that about <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/files/2018-report-economic-well-being-us-households-201905.pdf">40% of all households could not cover an unexpected $400 expense</a> without borrowing funds or selling a possession. </p>
<p>In an effort to provide relief to families and business hit by the economic meltdown, President Trump <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/congress-approves-2-trillion-coronavirus-rescue-package-200327133845317.html">signed the $2.2 trillion CARES Act</a> on March 27.</p>
<h2>Stay of eviction</h2>
<p>The legislation provides considerable support to homeowners but much less to renters. Homeowners with <a href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/guide-coronavirus-mortgage-relief-options/">government-supported mortgages such as those that are guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac</a>, accounting for <a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/102013/avoiding-a-covid-19-disaster-for-renters-and-the-housing-market_1.pdf">70% of all outstanding mortgages</a>, can skip mortgage payments for up to 12 months without risk of foreclosure. Missed payments will instead by added to their mortgage balances.</p>
<p>Renters are afforded some protection. The legislation forbids private and public owners of rental housing <a href="https://www.novoco.com/notes-from-novogradac/cares-act-contains-120-day-moratorium-evictions-affordable-rental-housing">financed with government assistance</a> – <a href="https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/cares-act-eviction-moratorium-covers-all-federally-financed-rentals-thats-one-four-us-rental-units">about 28% of all rentals</a> – from evicting tenants for nonpayment of rent over a period of six months. In addition to the CARES Act, 15 states and 24 cities have <a href="https://nlihc.org/eviction-and-foreclosure-moratoriums">temporarily suspended evictions</a> for nearly all renters in their jurisdictions.</p>
<p>The CARES Act also provides relief in the shape of expanded unemployment benefits as well as a one-off payment of $1,200 to eligible adults and an extra $500 per child.</p>
<p>But rental protection is <a href="https://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/Need-for-Rental-Assistance-During-the-COVID-19-and-Economic-Crisis.pdf?utm_source=NLIHC+All+Subscribers&utm_campaign=553f02a3bb-update_041720&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e090383b5e-553f02a3bb-291662413&ct=t(update_041720)">unlikely to last more than a few months</a> – less if stays on eviction are not enforced, as <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/despite-federal-ban-landlords-are-still-moving-to-evict-people-during-the-pandemic">has been the case in a number of states</a>.</p>
<p>Moreover, when renters skip their rent, they still owe it – it will need to be repaid at a later date.</p>
<p>These emergency measures do little to help landlords cover their expenses. It does prohibit lenders from foreclosing on landlords with federally backed mortgages, should they fail to make payment. But it does nothing to help them pay employees, utility bills or their property taxes. And when landlords cannot pay property taxes, it becomes even more difficult for hard-pressed cities, towns and school districts to provide essential services.</p>
<h2>Room for improvement?</h2>
<p>One alternative would be for the government to <a href="https://www.reed.senate.gov/news/releases/reed-brown-seek-to-create-75-billion-housing-assistance-fund">pay landlords directly</a> to cover the loss of rental income. <a href="https://omar.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-ilhan-omar-introduces-bill-cancel-all-rent-and-mortgage-payments-during">Rep. Ilhan Omar</a>, for example, is proposing that <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/493558-omar-introduces-legislation-to-cancel-rent-mortgage-payments-during-pandemic">all renters have their rents canceled</a>, with landlords applying for compensation from the federal government. </p>
<p>A downside of this approach is the potential for providing assistance to landlords and tenants who do not need it. It would also require a new apparatus to administer the program, which could delay implementation.</p>
<p>Advocates and policymakers have suggested other ways government could address the looming rental housing crisis.</p>
<p>The approach partially adopted by the CARES Act is to compensate displaced workers for their loss of income. This could be expanded through <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/finance/492034-harris-ocasio-cortez-among-democrats-calling-for-recurring-direct-payments-in">repeated cash payments</a> to households. Alternatively, unemployment benefits could be increased. But there is also no guarantee that recipients will use the funds for housing or that funds would be targeted at low-income households that require assistance.</p>
<p>The government could pay employers to <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/news/2020/04/08/482903/america-needs-coronavirus-recovery-legislation-meet-magnitude-crisis-hand/">keep workers on their payroll</a> and hire back those they have let go. It has already adopted this approach to an extent, but not anywhere close to the scale that would be necessary. Scaling up these efforts would probably take months and may not be politically feasible.</p>
<h2>Vouchers for success</h2>
<p>We believe a more viable option would be expanding the government’s Housing Choice Voucher program. Established in 1974, it enables low-income households to rent housing in the private market, paying no more than 30% of their income on rent, with the government paying the rest. </p>
<p>It is available to all low-income households and <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/federal-policy-changes-can-help-more-families-with-housing-vouchers-live-in-higher">currently serves 2.2 million households</a> – although as many as 10 million were eligible for the program before the COVID crisis.</p>
<p>The program already has the administrative apparatus needed to handle an increase in participants: a nationwide network of <a href="https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/ph">over 3,300 housing authorities</a> with decades of experience. Many have already demonstrated their capacity to dramatically expand operations to accommodate new households <a href="https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL33078.html">in the event of natural disasters</a>, such as hurricanes and floods.</p>
<p>If expanded to meet the demands of the current crisis, the Housing Choice Voucher program could act as a shock absorber for the rental housing market. For tenants, it would provide some stability where there now is uncertainty and reduce the risk of displacement, eviction and homelessness. For landlords, it would provide a steady stream of income to help pay the mortgage, property taxes and other expenses.</p>
<p>[<em>Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=upper-coronavirus-facts">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.</a>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136550/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirk McClure receives funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He is affiliated with HUD through the Multi-Disciplinary Research Team that works with HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Schwartz has received research funding from John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He is a public member of the New York City Rent Guidelines Board.
Alex Schwartz is related to an employee of The Conversation US.</span></em></p>Current measures prohibiting the eviction of tenants and helping them through the financial crisis won’t last forever. A 40-year-old voucher program might be a longer term solution.Kirk McClure, Professor of Urban Planning, University of KansasAlex Schwartz, Professor of Urban Policy, The New SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1360042020-04-14T12:23:38Z2020-04-14T12:23:38ZCoronavirus lockdowns are pushing mass transit systems to the brink – and low-income riders will pay the price<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327518/original/file-20200413-135656-1n0lr2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=57%2C114%2C3776%2C2437&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mass transit ridership in Los Angeles and elsewhere has plummeted during the crisis.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
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<p>Low-income Americans <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-will-supercharge-american-inequality/608419/">have borne the brunt</a> of the coronavirus pandemic. They may also get left behind in the recovery.</p>
<p>Steep declines in ridership during the crisis have pushed public transit systems across the U.S. into <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-19/so-far-stimulus-is-leaving-mass-transit-behind">deep financial distress</a>. Though Congress included allocations for transit in the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/3548/text">CARES Act</a>, <a href="https://whyy.org/articles/septa-is-getting-643m-in-federal-coronavirus-aid/">cities said</a> it <a href="https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2020/03/25/experts-senate-bills-25b-for-transit-wont-be-enough/">won’t be nearly enough</a>. Even major systems in large metro areas like New York City and Washington, D.C., have serious concerns about long-term survival without more sustained support. </p>
<p>Failure of transit systems would be a disaster for the large proportion of low income households that depend on buses and trains to get to work and elsewhere – not only in urban areas, but in rural ones too.</p>
<p><a href="https://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/page.cfm?siteID=58&pageID=11&action=details">I’m currently</a> in the middle of a two-year study of transport inequality in the U.S. One of my early findings is that about 20% of the poorest households don’t own a vehicle. That would make them entirely reliant on public transportation, compared with 6% for all households. </p>
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<p>For my study, I looked at the <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs">income and vehicle data</a> from 2013 to 2017 for households in the bottom quintile of the income distribution in each of the <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/commuting-zones-and-labor-market-areas/">country’s 709 commuting zones</a>, which represent local economic clusters.</p>
<p>In urban areas, 21% of these low-income households didn’t have a single vehicle. In rural areas, it was slightly lower but still significant at 16%. The share without a car varied widely among states, from over half of the poorest households in New York to just 6.8% in Utah. </p>
<p><iframe id="x0CCB" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/x0CCB/4/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Dependence on transit also mirrors the <a href="https://www.manhattan-institute.org/racial-inequality-in-america-post-jim-crow-segregation">deep racial inequalities</a> in America. Almost a third of low-income African American households didn’t own a vehicle. Even among black households of all income levels the share without a car is very high at 16%.</p>
<p>Even before the present crisis, America’s inadequate transport infrastructure was being seen as a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/stranded-how-americas-failing-public-transportation-increases-inequality/393419/">driver of inequality</a>, limiting access to jobs, education and other services for poorer households. <a href="https://wagner.nyu.edu/files/faculty/publications/JobAccessNov2015.pdf">Higher unemployment rates</a> and <a href="https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/REST_a_00707">longer duration of joblessness</a> had also been linked to limitations in transit access in certain regions of the country.</p>
<p>If cities and states have to drastically cut back public transportation availability over the long term, it could exacerbate these inequalities. Higher-income households with access to cars will be able to more easily return to their commutes as the crisis eases. And those who, prior to the outbreak, used mass transit might be more weary of returning to the subways and buses, which would worsen the funding problems.</p>
<p>Any long-term disruptions, however, will bring devastating isolation to a large number of low-income households across the country. Their ability to get to work or even look for work once the lockdown ends will be severely hampered if transit systems are not adequately supported to maintain at least pre-crisis service levels. </p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136004/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ramya Devan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>One in 5 of the poorest US households don’t have a car and rely on public transportation to get around.Ramya Devan, Professor of Economics, Stockton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1297352020-02-21T12:34:58Z2020-02-21T12:34:58ZFederal Pell Grants help pay for college – but are they enough to help students finish?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314081/original/file-20200206-43074-tgcths.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students who rely heavily on financial aid tend to be concentrated in non-selective colleges, new research shows.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/students-standing-together-during-graduation-royalty-free-image/519517477">Ariel Skelly/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pell Grants are one way the federal government helps people pay for college. </p>
<p>During the 2020 to 2021 school year, eligible students can receive up to <a href="https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/grants/pell">US$6,345</a> through the program, depending on where they go to school, how many classes they take and how much money their family makes.</p>
<p>Despite this assistance, students who receive Pell Grants are less likely than other students to graduate from a four-year institution within six years: <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2017/10/25/a-look-at-pell-grant-recipients-graduation-rates/">51%</a> versus 59% for students who first enrolled in 2010. Six years is the timespan the federal government uses to measure graduation rates.</p>
<p>One reason for this disparity is that Pell Grant recipients <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2019_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf#page=76">tend to go</a> to less selective colleges and universities. <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/tables/dt18_326.10.asp">Graduation rates are lower for these institutions</a> than for more selective institutions.</p>
<p>For instance, at four-year colleges with open admissions – that is, an institution where just about anyone who applies gets in – only <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/tables/dt18_326.10.asp">31%</a> of students who first enrolled full-time in 2011 graduated within six years. At selective schools, which admit only a quarter of their applicants, <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d18/tables/dt18_326.10.asp">87%</a> did.</p>
<p>We are scholars who study <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MpiZLOEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">why students attend different colleges</a> and other <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ecTgyEUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">issues of fairness in higher education</a>. One of our recent studies finds that institutions that enroll high numbers of Pell grant recipients also have <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1521025119892934">other characteristics</a> that are linked with lower graduation rates, such as having fewer students live on campus and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1521025119892934">spending less per student on instruction</a>.</p>
<p>Our findings have implications for policymakers, taxpayers, college leaders and Pell Grant students themselves. </p>
<h2>College choice</h2>
<p><a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/student-aid/figures-tables/pell-grants-recipients-maximum-pell-and-average-pell">About a third</a> of the nation’s approximately <a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/student-aid/figures-tables/pell-grants-recipients-maximum-pell-and-average-pell">22 million</a> college students received these grants in 2018. The federal government spent about <a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/trends/student-aid/figures-tables/pell-grants-recipients-maximum-pell-and-average-pell">$28 billion</a> on Pell Grants in that school year.</p>
<p>More than half, <a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/pdf/2019-trendsinsa-figs22a-22b.pdf">58%</a>, of Pell Grant recipients who are financially dependent on their parents had family incomes below $30,000 in 2015-16. </p>
<p>But not all Pell Grant recipients are young or live with their parents. About half (53%) take care of themselves and <a href="https://research.collegeboard.org/pdf/2019-trendsinsa-figs22a-22b.pdf">42% were age 24 or older</a>. </p>
<h2>More degrees</h2>
<p>Congress <a href="http://www.ihep.org/sites/default/files/uploads/docs/pubs/pell_final_website_may_2015.pdf">first created</a> what is now known as the Federal Pell Grant program in 1972. A primary goal was to address financial barriers to college enrollment for students from low-income families.</p>
<p>Even with the availability of the federal Pell Grant, college enrollment rates <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2019_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf#page=42">continue to be lower</a> for students from lower-income families.</p>
<p>And, simply enrolling in college isn’t enough to lift these students out of poverty. They need to graduate. <a href="https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/3pathways/">Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce</a> has found that increasingly, “good jobs” – defined as a job “that pays at least $35,000 for workers 25 to 44 and at least $45,000 for workers 45 to 64” – require at least a bachelor’s degree. </p>
<h2>Structural barriers</h2>
<p>In a report we produced with The Pell Institute, a research and policy analysis organization that focuses on low-income, first-generation and disabled students, we found that, at community colleges, <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2019_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf#page=76">55%</a> of first-year, full-time students got federal grants, including Pell Grants, in 2016-17.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/314089/original/file-20200206-43108-1fq0v0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students who get the Pell Grant are underrepresented at selective colleges.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/woman-in-graduation-gown-looking-away-royalty-free-image/961129028">Cavan Images / Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The percentage was even higher at for-profit colleges – <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2019_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf#page=76">68%</a>.</p>
<p>In contrast, at the nation’s most academically selective colleges, only <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2019_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf#page=76">16%</a> of first-time, full-time students received federal grants.</p>
<p>One reason Pell Grant recipients <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2019_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf#page=76">more commonly attend</a> open-enrollment and less selective colleges is that students from low-income families more often attend K-12 schools with <a href="https://www.researchforaction.org/educational-opportunity/">fewer academically demanding courses</a>. Lack of academic preparation reduces their chances of getting into a competitive college. And it contributes to the <a href="https://www.ecs.org/developmental-education-an-introduction-for-policymakers/">need to take developmental or remedial education courses</a>. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ThePellPartnership_EdTrust_20152.pdf">2015 report published by The Education Trust</a> shows that graduation rates are higher for Pell recipients at more academically selective institutions. At institutions enrolling students with the highest SAT scores, graduation rates were 74% for Pell recipients and 79% for non-Pell recipients. At institutions enrolling students with the lowest SAT scores, <a href="https://edtrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ThePellPartnership_EdTrust_20152.pdf">graduation rates averaged</a> 37% for Pell recipients and 42% for non-Pell recipients. </p>
<p>Lower-income students who attend the most selective schools also <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3007490##">fare as well as their affluent peers</a> in terms of how much money they make after college, according to Opportunity Insights, a Harvard University-based research and policy analysis group. </p>
<h2>Supporting low-income students</h2>
<p>Much attention has focused on increasing enrollment of Pell recipients in the nation’s most selective institutions. While important, we believe these efforts are not enough. </p>
<p>Much more must be done to improve graduation rates at the open-access and less selective colleges in which many more of the nation’s Pell recipients enroll. In fall 2015, just <a href="http://pellinstitute.org/downloads/publications-Indicators_of_Higher_Education_Equity_in_the_US_2019_Historical_Trend_Report.pdf#page=18">8% of all undergraduates</a> were attending the nation’s most and highly selective colleges and universities. By comparison, 37% of all undergraduates were enrolled in community colleges and other two-year colleges. </p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Some of the data and research in this article was generated with a support from a grant from Lumina Foundation. The findings and opinions are those of the authors and may not reflect the views of the funder. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeremy Wright-Kim does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research shows that low-income students who qualify for the federal Pell Grant tend to go to non-selective colleges – and why that hurts their chances of graduation.Laura Perna, Professor of Higher Education, University of PennsylvaniaJeremy Wright-Kim, PhD Student, Higher Education, University of PennsylvaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1317432020-02-13T22:42:13Z2020-02-13T22:42:13ZExpanding the definition of family to reflect our realities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316238/original/file-20200219-11017-e3nic0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=240%2C444%2C2785%2C1551&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A narrow definition of family can neglect the experiences of single-parent families.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The second Monday in February is Family Day in parts of Canada. <a href="https://open.alberta.ca/publications/f04">Started in Alberta in 1990</a>, four additional provinces celebrate Family Day: British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick. (Other provinces have holidays reflecting their heritage.) </p>
<p>Québec is one of few jurisdictions that does not have a civic holiday in February, though <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-one-province-got-80-per-cent-of-fathers-to-take-paternity-leave-118737">the province has generous family leave policies</a>. </p>
<p>This year, to coincide with the emphasis on family, <a href="http://www.concordia.ca">Concordia University</a> and the <a href="https://vanierinstitute.ca">Vanier Institute of the Family</a> are hosting a <a href="https://vanierinstitute.ca/concordia-university-to-host-families-in-canada-satellite-event-february-20-2020/">conference</a> on families and family life on Feb. 20. The conference will explore some of the tensions and dichotomies embedded in families. For one, how do we define what family means? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315121/original/file-20200212-61947-1you67c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=81%2C191%2C4714%2C3061&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315121/original/file-20200212-61947-1you67c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315121/original/file-20200212-61947-1you67c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315121/original/file-20200212-61947-1you67c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315121/original/file-20200212-61947-1you67c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315121/original/file-20200212-61947-1you67c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315121/original/file-20200212-61947-1you67c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People take to the Rideau Canal on Family Day in Ottawa on Feb. 18, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Expanding the definition of family</h2>
<p>How we define family (and who gets to do that defining) is an important starting point for conversations on family life. Who’s in? Who’s out? Who actually counts as family? For some, family means married parents with children, or married heterosexual parents with children. For others, it may mean a chosen family, or a cohabiting couple with no children.</p>
<p>For our conference, we are using an adaptation of the <a href="https://vanierinstitute.ca/family-definition-diversity/">Vanier Institute’s definition</a>: a family consists of any combination of two or more people, bound together over time, by ties of mutual consent and/or birth, adoption or placement, and who take responsibility for various activities of daily living, including love.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400.2017.1333055">research has identified the need to attend to extended families</a>, including grandparents, aunts and uncles. It also includes the need to extend the definition of family to non-traditional family forms including LGBTQ2S+ families, chosen families, multi-generation families that include grandparents, single parents and people living alone. </p>
<p>It wasn’t until 2001 that Statistics Canada gathered information on multi-generational households, and in 2011 the census first counted stepfamilies and foster children. Families in Canada <a href="https://vanierinstitute.ca/resources/statistical-snapshots/">are diverse</a> and our programs and policies should be responsive to this diversity.</p>
<p>We find that a narrow definition of family can neglect the experiences of <a href="http://demeterpress.org/books/intensive-mothering-the-cultural-contradictions-of-modern-motherhood/">single-parent, poor and minority families</a>. For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243211427700">research shows</a> that women of colour and low-income women often experience and interpret motherhood differently than white, class-privileged mothers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316242/original/file-20200219-11005-x0029j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316242/original/file-20200219-11005-x0029j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316242/original/file-20200219-11005-x0029j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316242/original/file-20200219-11005-x0029j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316242/original/file-20200219-11005-x0029j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316242/original/file-20200219-11005-x0029j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316242/original/file-20200219-11005-x0029j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This image includes four adults and three children: many factors, including race and class impact family relationships.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gift Habeshaw /Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Recently, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2010.516804">researchers</a> began to examine how diversity related to race, class and sexual orientation affects grandparent-grandchild relationships. To continue to expand our understanding of families’ experiences, we need to think more broadly about what factors matter in families. </p>
<h2>Family realities should be reflected in policy</h2>
<p>How we define family impacts social policy like <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/ei-maternity-parental.html">parental, maternity and paternity leave entitlements</a> and <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/child-family-benefits/canada-child-benefit-overview.html">child-care tax credits</a>. <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/services/benefits/ei/caregiving.html">Caregiver benefits and compassionate leave policies are also tied to family status</a>. Eligibility depends on whether you are a family member. </p>
<p>In health-care contexts, visitors in intensive care units and emergency departments are often restricted to immediate family and grandparents often don’t have rights when it comes to child custody cases. So a comprehensive definition of family influences how we develop programs for families and who is eligible. </p>
<p>Besides needing to expand the definition of family, we also need to look at the messy realities of family and family life. The irony of organizing a public family conference while attending to the realities of our private family lives was not lost on us. As we scheduled meetings and conference calls, we were also planning Skype dates, making school lunches and caring for parents across the country.</p>
<p>We believe that practitioners, service providers and policy-makers need to take into account the complexity of family lives when thinking about family practice, programs and policies. Family scholars and the Vanier Institute of the Family refer to using a family lens: needing to look at the complexity of family and family relations beyond individual family members.</p>
<p>Thinking about families in a broad sense when we develop programs and policies can be challenging. It is much easier to use an individual lens to think about developing children, or aging seniors. But these individual family members, even those who live on their own, live out their lives in the context of families —whether biological or social. </p>
<h2>The future of families</h2>
<p>When using a family lens, it can be easy to slip into a glass-half-empty approach. Family life educators and social workers struggle with the tension between deficit models of family, and asset or strength-based models of family. Instead of only focusing on what problems families experience, we can benefit from understanding what strengths they have and what makes them resilient in the face of life’s challenges. </p>
<p>Some family practitioners and family scholars would say that in the best of all possible worlds, it would be preferable to remain apolitical as we think about family and as we provide information and assistance to families. </p>
<p>And yet, some of us feel strongly that it is important to look beyond families to society to advocate on behalf of families, or family members, who are at risk. </p>
<p>At our families conference we will be exploring the tension between present and future. Based on our understanding of systems and systemic change, we will emphasize envisioning a different future by including all families — in the broadest sense. </p>
<p>Rather than staying focused on the present, we look towards a future of change by asking the question: “Wouldn’t it be great if …?”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131743/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shannon Hebblethwaite receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Société et Culture (FRQSC), the Fondation Luc Maurice, and TELUS Health.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hilary Rose does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A narrow definition of family can neglect the experiences of many people and can impact policy and programs. It’s time to expand our ideas of what family means.Hilary Rose, Associate Professor of Applied Human Sciences, Concordia UniversityShannon Hebblethwaite, Associate Professor of Applied Human Sciences, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1229972019-09-11T12:19:26Z2019-09-11T12:19:26ZWhy community-owned grocery stores like co-ops are the best recipe for revitalizing food deserts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291808/original/file-20190910-190044-cpinfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Detroit People's Food Co-op, opening later this year in a food desert, is an example of a community-driven project.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">DPFC</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tens of millions of Americans <a href="https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-hunger-us">go to bed hungry</a> at some point every year. While poverty is the primary culprit, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722409/">some blame food insecurity</a> on the lack of grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods.</p>
<p>That’s why <a href="https://www.ccachicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Chicago-2011-Transition-Report.pdf">cities</a>, <a href="http://thefoodtrust.org/what-we-do/supermarkets">states</a> and national leaders including former first lady <a href="https://foodinsight.org/first-lady-michelle-obamas-healthy-food-financing-initiative-announcement-highlights-the-importance-of-affordable-healthful-foods-in-underserved-communities/">Michelle Obama</a> made eliminating so-called “food deserts” a priority in recent years. This prompted some of the biggest U.S. retailers, <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/retailers-seek-answers-to-food-desert-problem-2016-11-10">such as Walmart, SuperValu and Walgreens</a>, to <a href="https://apnews.com/8bfc99c7c99646008acf25e674e378cf">promise to open or expand</a> stores in underserved areas. </p>
<p>One problem is that many neighborhoods in inner cities <a href="https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/usp_fac/191/">fear gentrification</a>, when big corporations swoop in with development plans. As a result, some new supermarkets never <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2014/12/23/philadelphia-artist-defeats-eminent-domain-land-grab-will-keep-his-studio/#7cf79659591e">got past the planning stage</a> or <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/10/8/3325">closed within a few months of opening</a> because residents did not shop at the new store. </p>
<p>To find out why some succeeded while others failed, three colleagues and I <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1863">performed an exhaustive search</a> for every supermarket that had plans to open in a food desert since 2000 and what happened to each. </p>
<h2>What’s a food desert?</h2>
<p>I’m actually rather skeptical that food deserts have a significant impact on whether Americans go hungry.</p>
<p>In previous research with urban planners <a href="https://www.pdx.edu/profile/meet-professor-megan-horst">Megan Horst</a> and <a href="http://foodsystemsplanning.ap.buffalo.edu/raj/">Subhashni Raj</a>, we found that diet-related health <a href="https://doi.org/10.2148/benv.43.3.328">more closely correlates with household income</a> than with access to a supermarket. One can be poor, live near a grocery store and still be unable to afford a healthy diet.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the lack of one, particularly in urban neighborhoods, is often a broader sign of disinvestment. In addition to selling food, supermarkets act as <a href="https://ideas.repec.org/a/fip/fedfcr/y2009p75-87nv.5no.3.html">economic generators</a> by providing local jobs and offering the convenience of neighborhood services, such as pharmacies and banks. </p>
<p>I believe every neighborhood should have these amenities. But how should we define them?</p>
<p>U.K.-based public health researchers Steven Cummins and Sally Macintyre coined the term in the 1990s and described food deserts as low-income communities whose residents <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098022000011399">didn’t have the purchasing power</a> to support supermarkets. </p>
<p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture began looking at these areas in <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-environment-atlas/">2008</a>, when it officially defined food deserts as communities with either 500 residents or 33% of the population living more than a mile from a supermarket in urban areas. The distance jumps to 10 miles away in rural areas. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291841/original/file-20190910-190002-ujn60d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291841/original/file-20190910-190002-ujn60d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291841/original/file-20190910-190002-ujn60d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291841/original/file-20190910-190002-ujn60d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291841/original/file-20190910-190002-ujn60d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291841/original/file-20190910-190002-ujn60d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291841/original/file-20190910-190002-ujn60d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291841/original/file-20190910-190002-ujn60d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The map shows how many people in different counties across the country lived in food deserts in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-environment-atlas/go-to-the-atlas/">USDA ERS</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although the agency has created <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/documentation/">three other ways</a> to measure food deserts, we stuck with the original 2008 definition for our study. By that measure, <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/82101/eib-165.pdf?v=0">about 38% of U.S. Census tracts</a> were food deserts in 2015, the latest data available, slightly down from 39.4% in 2010. </p>
<p>That means about 19 million people, or 6.2% of the U.S. population, <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/documentation/">lived in a food desert in 2015</a>.</p>
<h2>Michelle Obama makes it a priority</h2>
<p><a href="http://thefoodtrust.org/what-we-do/supermarkets">The Food Trust</a> was among the first to tackle the problem. In 2004, the Philadelphia-based nonprofit used US$30 million in state seed money to help finance 88 supermarket projects throughout Pennsylvania, which helped make healthy food available to about 400,000 underserved residents. </p>
<p>Our research followed the success as it drew attention nationally. Rahm Emanuel <a href="https://www.ccachicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Chicago-2011-Transition-Report.pdf">made eliminating food deserts in Chicago a top initiative</a> when he became the city’s mayor in 2011. And Michelle Obama <a href="https://foodinsight.org/first-lady-michelle-obamas-healthy-food-financing-initiative-announcement-highlights-the-importance-of-affordable-healthful-foods-in-underserved-communities/">helped launch</a> the <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/programs/community-economic-development/healthy-food-financing">Healthy Food Financing Initiative</a> in 2010 to encourage supermarkets to open in food deserts across the country. The following year major food retailers promised to open or expand 1,500 <a href="http://get-hwhc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Partnership-for-a-Healthier-America.pdf">supermarket or convenience stores</a> in and around food desert neighborhoods by 2016.</p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://www.frbsf.org/community-development/files/supermarkets-in-food-deserts-development-financing-health-promotion.pdf">receiving generous federal financial support</a>, retailers <a href="https://apnews.com/8bfc99c7c99646008acf25e674e378cf">managed to open or expand just 250 stores</a> in food deserts during the period. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291648/original/file-20190909-109952-1j1a1zm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291648/original/file-20190909-109952-1j1a1zm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291648/original/file-20190909-109952-1j1a1zm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291648/original/file-20190909-109952-1j1a1zm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291648/original/file-20190909-109952-1j1a1zm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291648/original/file-20190909-109952-1j1a1zm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/291648/original/file-20190909-109952-1j1a1zm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The food trust financed dozens of supermarket projects in Pennsylvania in 2004.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Healthy-Corner-Stores-/75483a880946408da27cd14c0fd03293/2/0">AP Photo/Matt Rourke</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How to grow in a food desert</h2>
<p>We wanted to dig deeper and see just how many of the new stores were actually supermarkets and how they’ve fared. </p>
<p>I teamed up with <a href="https://www.spi.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-benjamin-chrisinger">Benjamin Chrisinger</a>, <a href="https://humanecology.ucdavis.edu/student-spotlight">Jose Flores</a> and <a href="https://sociology.ucdavis.edu/people/cglennie">Charlotte Glennie</a> and examined press releases, website listings and scholarly studies to assemble a database of supermarkets that had announced plans to open new locations in food deserts since 2000. </p>
<p>We were particularly interested in the driving forces behind each project. </p>
<p>We identified only 71 supermarket plans that met our criteria. Of those, 21 were driven by government, 18 by community leaders, 12 by nonprofits and eight by commercial interests. Another dozen were driven by a combination of government initiative with community involvement.</p>
<p>Then we looked at how many actually stuck around. We found that all 22 of the supermarkets opened by community or nonprofits are still open today. Two were canceled, while six are in progress. </p>
<p>In contrast, nearly half of the commercial stores and a third of the government developments have closed or didn’t it make it past planning. Five of the government/community projects also failed or were canceled.</p>
<p><iframe id="QNZor" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/QNZor/5/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>A shuttered supermarket is more than just a business failure. It <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/40499246/how-closing-grocery-stores-perpetuate-food-deserts-long-after-theyre-gone">can perpetuate the food desert problem</a> for years and prevent new stores from opening in the same location, <a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2019/01/10/louisville-food-deserts-how-grocery-stores-closing-hurt-community/1944809002/">worsening a neighborhood’s blight</a>. </p>
<h2>Why co-ops succeeded</h2>
<p>So why did the community-driven supermarkets survive and thrive? </p>
<p>Importantly, 16 of the 18 community-driven cases were structured as cooperatives, which are rooted in their communities through customer ownership, democratic governance and shared social values. </p>
<p>Community engagement is vital to opening and sustaining a new store in neighborhoods where residents are understandably skeptical of outside developers and worry about <a href="https://www.attomdata.com/news/market-trends/attom-data-solutions-2019-grocery-store-battle/">gentrification and rising rents</a>. Cooperatives often adopt local hiring practices, <a href="https://cdi.coop/coop-cathy-coops-benefit-communities/">pay living wages</a> and help residents counteract <a href="https://civileats.com/2019/01/25/new-research-explores-the-ongoing-impact-of-racism-on-the-u-s-farming-landscape">inequities in the food system</a>. <a href="https://www.fci.coop/sites/default/files/Startup%20guide-02.2017.pdf">Their model</a>, in which a third of the cost of opening typically comes from member loans, ensures communities are literally invested in their new stores and their use. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.mandelagrocery.coop/">Mandela Co-op</a>, which opened in a West Oakland, California, food desert in 2009, is a great example of this. The worker-owned grocery store focuses on purchasing from farmers and food entrepreneurs of color. As a result of its success, the Mandela Co-op <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/Mandela-Grocery-Cooperative-marks-10-years-in-13959570.php?psid=mc7QM">is expanding</a> and supporting the local economy at the same time many commercial supermarkets are closing locations as the <a href="https://www.grocerydive.com/news/why-grocery-consolidation/535608/">grocery industry consolidates</a>.</p>
<p>Our study suggests policymakers and <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/action/doSearch?AllField=food+desert&ConceptID=">public health officials interested</a> in improving wellness in food deserts should take community ownership and involvement into account. </p>
<p>The success of a supermarket intervention is predicated on use, which may not happen without community buy-in. Supporting cooperatives is one way to ensure that shoppers show up.</p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122997/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Brinkley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Prodded by Michelle Obama and other government leaders, Walmart and other major US retailers vowed to build hundreds of stores in food deserts. What happened?Catherine Brinkley, Assistant Professor of Community and Regional Development, University of California, DavisLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1200502019-08-05T12:57:40Z2019-08-05T12:57:40ZThis tax credit wasn’t meant to help with housing, but that’s exactly what it’s doing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285905/original/file-20190726-43153-1obci51.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Families can use their EITC to improve their housing.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/row-brick-apartment-buildings-on-corner-709000537?src=5wktrqvoZ58CrUJHhNTcEA-1-1&studio=1">Colin D. Young/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-more-millennials-rent-more-startups-want-to-loan-to-them-11557739800">rents rise</a> and <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/08/07/for-most-us-workers-real-wages-have-barely-budged-for-decades/">wages stagnate</a>, <a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/54106/2000260-The-Housing-Affordability-Gap-for-Extremely-Low-Income-Renters-2013.pdf">many families struggle to find affordable housing</a> in the U.S.</p>
<p>This is especially true for low-income households who often spend <a href="https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Harvard_JCHS_State_of_the_Nations_Housing_2019.pdf">more than half their income</a> on rent. </p>
<p>The U.S. has a number of housing policies to help low-income families find and afford housing, but only about <a href="https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Harvard_JCHS_State_of_the_Nations_Housing_2018.pdf">one quarter of eligible households</a> got assistance in 2018.</p>
<p>Thus, my colleague <a href="https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/pa/cpr/Michelmore,_Katherine/">Katherine Michelmore</a> and <a href="http://fordschool.umich.edu/faculty/natasha-pilkauskas">I</a> considered whether a different type of policy – the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-019-00791-5">might help improve families’ access to housing</a> by giving parents more disposable income. We wanted to know if further expanding the credit might help address the housing affordability crisis.</p>
<h2>Getting money back</h2>
<p>The EITC is a refundable tax credit that provides a subsidy to mostly low-income working parents.</p>
<p>Although people without children can get the EITC, fewer are eligible. The EITC allows low-income workers to both reduce their total tax liability and get money back – <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/policy-basics-the-earned-income-tax-credit">on average about $3,000 a year</a> – even if they do not owe taxes.</p>
<p>This means that for a low-income family who makes about $20,000 a year, the EITC can increase take-home earnings by more than 15%.</p>
<p>The EITC <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/ib370-earned-income-tax-credit-and-the-child-tax-credit-history-purpose-goals-and-effectiveness/">began in 1975 as a temporary credit</a> aimed at helping low-income parents. The goal was to reduce payroll taxes these parents paid and help them with the rising costs of basic goods, like food and gas.</p>
<p>The EITC was made permanent in 1978 and has been expanded a number of times since then. For example, in 1993 the benefit was expanded to give families with two or more children a larger credit.</p>
<p>In 2009 it was again made larger for families with three or more children. Our study looked at all of the expansions from 1990 through 2016.</p>
<p>In the U.S., about <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/policy-basics-the-earned-income-tax-credit">26 million families a year</a> got the ETIC. Many studies have shown the EITC <a href="https://doi.org/10.3386/w5158">increases employment</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3386/w21340">reduces poverty</a>, but we could find no previous studies that had looked at its impact on housing. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285904/original/file-20190726-43149-wo92uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285904/original/file-20190726-43149-wo92uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285904/original/file-20190726-43149-wo92uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285904/original/file-20190726-43149-wo92uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285904/original/file-20190726-43149-wo92uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285904/original/file-20190726-43149-wo92uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285904/original/file-20190726-43149-wo92uu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Ford, who was instrumental in creating the EITC, meeting with his Cabinet in 1975.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford#/media/File:President_Gerald_Ford_meets_with_his_Cabinet_June_25_-_1975.jpg">David Hume Kennerly/National Archives and Records Administration</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>On their own</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-019-00791-5">Our study</a> focused on low-income unmarried mothers, who are most likely to get the EITC.</p>
<p>Using information from <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps.html">two large</a> <a href="https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs">U.S. Census datasets</a> and <a href="https://fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/documentation">a study of low-income families</a>, we examined whether policy expansions - both federal- and state-level changes in the EITC - affected mothers’ housing.</p>
<p>Essentially, we calculated the average EITC each unmarried mother with a certain number of children could expect to receive in a particular state in a given year.</p>
<p>We then compared similar families before and after EITC expansions to estimate the effects on their housing. By using data that covered a 26-year period, we captured many changes in EITC policy at the federal and state level.</p>
<p>We found that getting additional money from the EITC reduced mothers’ housing cost burdens, or the share of their earnings that was spent on rent. In other words, the EITC helped make housing more affordable.</p>
<p>We also found that getting a larger EITC led mothers to move out of shared living arrangements where they were living with other adults who were not their partner.</p>
<p>Better still, after getting a higher EITC, these mothers were more likely to move into a home with their name on the lease or mortgage.</p>
<p>Owning or renting a home rather than living with someone else leads to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14616718.2014.961753">more stable housing</a>, which is generally better for children because <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12105">studies show</a> that frequent moves, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.01008.x">which are more common when people live with others</a>, are linked with poorer school outcomes.</p>
<p>Because these mothers were no longer doubled up, they were also less likely to live in a crowded household, which is also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-016-0467-9">better for children</a>.</p>
<h2>A number of proposals</h2>
<p>Overall, our study suggests that expanding the EITC might be an effective way to combat some pressing housing issues. But increasing it won’t fix all housing problems. </p>
<p>Our study also found that EITC expansions had no effect on homelessness or eviction, likely because families cannot get the EITC if they are not working. </p>
<p>Currently, there are a <a href="https://www.axios.com/cory-booker-2020-election-tax-policy-economic-plan-f51388bc-93ab-4b0b-a590-2404f44283c6.html">number</a> of <a href="https://khanna.house.gov/media/press-releases/release-sen-sherrod-brown-and-rep-ro-khanna-introduce-landmark-legislation">policy</a> <a href="http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2019/a-roadmap-to-reducing-child-poverty.aspx">proposals</a> to expand the EITC. These proposals aim to combat poverty and reduce economic inequality.</p>
<p>As our study suggests, the EITC just might also help families improve their housing too.</p>
<p>[ <em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120050/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natasha Pilkauskas has received funding from Poverty Solutions and from the Institute for Research on Poverty to study the effects of the EITC on various outcomes. </span></em></p>The Earned Income Tax Credit was established in 1975 to reduce payroll taxes and help with rising prices for low-income families. Today, it could help poor families with housing.Natasha Pilkauskas, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1162312019-04-30T10:43:26Z2019-04-30T10:43:26ZData insecurity leads to economic injustice – and hits the pocketbooks of the poor most<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271627/original/file-20190429-194609-1wo0c28.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Facebook allows advertisers to target low-income Americans. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Congress may finally be on the verge of passing a comprehensive federal privacy law after <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2019/02/28/congress-is-trying-to-create-a-federal-privacy-law">almost a half-century of trying</a>. Even the <a href="https://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/senate-commerce-chairman-eyes-data-privacy-bill-year">tech lobby</a> is <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/01/facebook-ceo-zuckerbergs-call-for-gdpr-privacy-laws-raises-questions.html">on board</a> following years of resistance. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.lawfareblog.com/will-new-congress-be-one-pass-data-privacy-legislation">growing bipartisan support</a> for privacy legislation seems to be responding to the public <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/techlash-whipping-up-criticism-of-the-top-tech-companies-11547146279">“techlash”</a> against a drumbeat of data breaches and social media misinformation campaigns. It also appears aimed at preventing a patchwork of state laws after <a href="https://iapp.org/news/a/gdpr-matchup-california-consumer-privacy-act">California passed its own privacy legislation</a> in 2018. </p>
<p>While the time is right to enact a new law, what you may not realize is that data privacy is actually an important economic justice issue. As a <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=623525">clinical law professor</a> representing low-income people for the last 20 years, I have seen how one’s digital privacy <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/opinion/privacy-poverty.html">experience varies</a> depending on social class. </p>
<p>And poorer Americans are among those who have the most at risk. </p>
<h2>Data targeting</h2>
<p>Take <a href="https://theconversation.com/your-smartphone-apps-are-tracking-your-every-move-4-essential-reads-108586">data brokers</a>, which are companies that sell personal data collected from <a href="https://theconversation.com/most-americans-dont-realize-what-companies-can-predict-from-their-data-110760">sources</a> such as public records, internet browsing activity, social media posts, emails, app usage and retail loyalty cards.</p>
<p>This industry is one reason why you are barraged with online ads for a product you may have glanced at only briefly. For most of us, this is simply an annoying fact of life. For low-income people, the harms extend beyond this shared sense of creepiness.</p>
<p>For example, the digital dossiers assembled by data brokers are used to <a href="https://bigdata.fairness.io/data-brokers/">target low-income Americans</a> for predatory products such as payday loans, high-interest mortgages and for-profit educational scams. These brokers <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-marketers-use-big-data-to-prey-on-the-poor-2013-12">segment consumers</a> into highly specific categories, such as “rural and barely making it” and “credit crunched: city families.”</p>
<p>While a slew of lawsuits <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/21/18275746/facebook-settles-ad-discrimination-lawsuits">pushed Facebook</a> to stop allowing its advertisers to target groups based on gender, race, zip code and age, advertisers can continue to discriminate against people simply because they are poor. Poverty is <a href="http://virginialawreview.org/sites/virginialawreview.org/files/Evans_Online%20Revised.pdf">not a protected category</a> under our civil rights laws or the <a href="https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1547&context=lcp">Constitution</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, police are using big data to predict criminal activity, particularly in low-income and minority neighborhoods. The problem is this <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/d3m7jq/dozens-of-cities-have-secretly-experimented-with-predictive-policing-software">creates a vicious cycle</a> in which communities that are already heavily policed <a href="https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/06/04/how-data-driven-policing-threatens-human-freedom">trigger predictive software</a> that urges more aggressive policing. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271602/original/file-20190429-194603-3d3trj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/271602/original/file-20190429-194603-3d3trj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271602/original/file-20190429-194603-3d3trj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271602/original/file-20190429-194603-3d3trj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271602/original/file-20190429-194603-3d3trj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271602/original/file-20190429-194603-3d3trj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/271602/original/file-20190429-194603-3d3trj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=562&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Digital dossiers are used to target low-income Americans with high-interest payday loans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Payday-Lending-Crackdown/1dfd87e7b6134dcb83cb70f63716bee8/150/0">AP Photo/Seth Perlman</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Data exclusion</h2>
<p>Targeting is not the only problem. Big data can also <a href="https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6265&context=law_lawreview">exclude people</a> living in material poverty from opportunities that would foster their economic stability.</p>
<p>Employers are using <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3051182/the-bias-you-didnt-know-existed-in-job-ads-and-recruiting-software">applicant tracking systems</a> to predict whether potential employees will perform on the job. <a href="https://slate.com/business/2016/09/how-big-data-made-applying-to-college-tougher-crueler-and-more-expensive.html">Colleges</a> are assessing algorithms to determine which prospective students are likely to stick around for graduation. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/1/18205174/automation-background-check-criminal-records-corelogic">Landlords</a> are scouring credit reports to predict whether prospective tenants will pay the rent. </p>
<p>And while these can be legitimate objectives, society <a href="https://hbr.org/2016/12/fixing-discrimination-in-online-marketplaces">puts too much faith</a> in the algorithms used to predict human behavior. Computer outputs may have the veneer of objectivity, but human beings <a href="https://medium.com/mit-media-lab/the-algorithms-arent-biased-we-are-a691f5f6f6f2">impart their own conscious and implicit biases</a> into the software that fuels these predictions. This can <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/10/upshot/when-algorithms-discriminate.html">reinforce longstanding prejudices</a>. </p>
<p>In addition, much of the data fed into algorithms is <a href="https://theconversation.com/big-data-analyses-depend-on-starting-with-clean-data-points-43687">erroneous</a>. Since these algorithms <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2930247">increasingly include information</a> pulled from social networks, you could be judged on the posts and conduct of your “friends.”</p>
<p>A <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2015/01/black-box-society-by-frank-pasquale-a-chilling-vision-of-how-big-data-has-invaded-our-lives.html">lack of transparency</a> means that people never learn why they are denied a job, a home or an education. Mechanisms to correct faulty data either do not exist or are so <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/144780/break-credit-reporting-racket">Kafkaesque</a> that people give up in frustration.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, then, in states that rely on algorithms to assess eligibility for public benefits such as Medicaid, thousands of qualified people have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/13/we-created-poverty-algorithms-wont-make-that-go-away">kicked out of programs</a>, imperiling their health and costing lives. </p>
<p>Automated decision-making strips social service delivery of needed nuance.</p>
<h2>Data security</h2>
<p>Data security is another area of concern for low-income Americans.</p>
<p>Recently, researchers <a href="http://fortune.com/2019/04/29/security-gap-personal-information-breach/">found a database online</a> containing identifying information on 80 million American households. This <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/12/28/data-breaches-2018-billions-hit-growing-number-cyberattacks/2413411002/">follows years of data breaches</a> that have put everyone’s data at risk of identity theft. </p>
<p>While always a nightmare, such breaches can be <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_services/publications/dialogue/volume/17/winter-2014/identity-theft--a-lowincome-issue/">especially devastating</a> for people living on the financial edge. They generally can’t afford the costly and complicated measures needed to clean their credit after someone else steals their identity. Economic losses resulting from a breach can push low-income people over a financial cliff.</p>
<p>Furthermore, identity theft <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_services/publications/dialogue/volume/17/winter-2014/identity-theft--a-lowincome-issue">can result</a> in low-income people facing wrongful arrests or utility cut-offs or aggressive debt collection tactics. Unsurprisingly, low-income <a href="https://datasociety.net/output/privacy-security-and-digital-inequality">people report lower confidence</a> in their ability to protect their data. </p>
<h2>Data privacy gaps</h2>
<p>All these harms are in part because the U.S. still lacks an overarching privacy law. </p>
<p>Although <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/2018-security-breach-legislation.aspx">all 50 states now require companies</a> to notify consumers about data breaches, California is the only state to pass a comprehensive privacy law governing how data is collected and used. However, multiple states <a href="https://iapp.org/news/a/us-state-comprehensive-privacy-law-comparison/">are considering similar legislation</a>. </p>
<p>There are a few federal <a href="https://teachprivacy.com/problems-sectoral-approach-privacy-law/">sectoral laws</a> that protect certain pieces of Americans’ financial and health information. But mostly a <a href="https://theconversation.com/74-screens-of-legalese-dont-protect-your-data-heres-a-blueprint-for-new-laws-that-could-make-a-difference-115101">notice and consent regime</a> puts the onus on individuals to safeguard their own online privacy.</p>
<p>Do you actually <a href="https://theconversation.com/nobody-reads-privacy-policies-heres-how-to-fix-that-81932">read those lengthy notices</a> that flash before you when you log on to a new website? Companies <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/09/why-privacy-policies-are-so-inscrutable/379615/">count on the fact</a> that you probably do not. </p>
<p>For its part, the <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/how-a-grad-student-scooped-the-ftc-and-what-it-means-for-your-online-privac">overburdened</a> Federal Trade Commission has tried to push companies to improve their data security. But its resources and enforcement power <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/new-ftc-powers-weighed-in-senate-data-privacy-hearing-1">are limited</a> under current law. </p>
<h2>Lessons from Europe</h2>
<p>Lawmakers working on a federal privacy law should look to Europe for inspiration. </p>
<p>About a year ago, the European Union began implementing the General Data Protection Regulation, which gives its citizens a bevy of <a href="https://gdpr-info.eu/chapter-3/">rights to control their data</a>. In particular, it also includes provisions that could enhance the data privacy needs of low-income people.</p>
<p>For instance, the GDPR prohibits certain kinds of <a href="https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=3265eea7-5948-4aa7-a066-bf9b6f7bfb8a">automated profiling</a>. This could put the brakes on profiling that limits people’s access to jobs, housing and other life necessities for illegitimate reasons. The law also gives people a <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3196985">right to an explanation</a> about automated decision-making, which could open the current “black box” to help people understand and challenge denials of goods and services.</p>
<p>The law includes a <a href="https://gdpr-info.eu/issues/right-to-be-forgotten/">right to be forgotten</a>, which requires personal data must be erased when it’s no longer needed for the original purpose or when a person asks for it to be scrubbed. Fundamentally, it means people can get a clean data slate as their financial condition improves. </p>
<p>And to top it off, the law has a meaningful <a href="https://www.gdpreu.org/compliance/fines-and-penalties/">enforcement regime</a> and requires <a href="https://gdpr-info.eu/art-35-gdpr/">public participation</a> in the data policies set by large companies.</p>
<p>In the United States, I believe the time is right to adopt similar provisions to enhance Americans’ control over their personal data. Data privacy is an issue of economic justice, and Congress should legislate accordingly.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/116231/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michele Gilman is affiliated with the Women's Law Center of Maryland and the ACLU of Maryland.</span></em></p>The drumbeat of data breaches and the growing problem of identity theft disproportionately harm low-income Americans.Michele Gilman, Venable Professor of Law, University of BaltimoreLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1048782018-11-19T12:39:19Z2018-11-19T12:39:19ZHow to get rid of head lice without spending loads of money<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245048/original/file-20181112-83599-1qv8zau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's enough to make your head itch.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Parents are being warned there could be a big rise in head lice outbreaks in schools this winter. The health charity <a href="https://www.chc.org/">Community Hygiene Concern</a> has predicted that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/sep/29/head-lice-invasion-gp-nit-kits">low-income families will be hit hardest</a> after a change in NHS England guidance, means GPs are now routinely prevented from prescribing any treatment for the parasites. </p>
<p>Transmission of head lice among toddlers and children is common and is often the result of close and frequent head or hair contact. Toys, furniture, carpets and clothing can all offer temporary habitats to lice that will jump on a child if the chance arises – offering head lice the opportunity to be <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/110/3/638.short">transferred and to thrive</a>.</p>
<p>But while schools and parents often talk about “head lice outbreaks” the reality is that humans have had head lice living on them for thousands of years. And they were so common in the past that almost every family was in possession of a <a href="https://watermark.silverchair.com/ae54-0164.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAiowggImBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggIXMIICEwIBADCCAgwGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMLVuLD20IrVWaURTHAgEQgIIB3fChH9rFG9TItlOcuZhAXpoI7lnM8_yPT4Mn46DGY3myEoSh6-cqeb5HrWTxDeHgELug9r-MXNGHhvy4pSlCWhBeo-B_hWW3tBMFeHUL5KVIEE-rhzsXUMJ5CkMguVl7jNtEqkUUQHJoSWnzqN3rcOHv9KGY1gLY7bxWF_zy7TO2EikuAXsjzy-SkCx5sUDtZ1KdKqMHLoQ9l8rrb4JcdeDudcXQ7g5YfziPcgEDbgMw97WXJ3dJfu13hbXpAj6uLhlqVbhjZgLuGk-XUr6lS0nuJEYBQTVpoeJcYG69PrBcFIu2QvSCgNepguCWpoCFXv4J8qd3SQueCyFFfWAqRlJy2tEdl5nmnxWzK5LXq5jVKErvqJT5wh1in4INcRG8j5Rt0R5AuFDO_sfj28hj_TRHnLwZCZ9Aeoi5npcoo6TBB_4ieH8mhUhDTEgDjirIFX8szyFYvQ6H3WT6gUchlN_fVmLCEmKk-GGlXef02qTnkEj5pUscMiHvDNyqO4jCwvpWDJzJOU9lVZeBz2P_GRAKmigmBBnBcqEMdUUCacK0_BSDuo10_ZpyMsNmzig-GI_G5AnbMrjAOGb4MuAOU0TDdOcuSfIg7i5jRdS9i90AIAe56CP-8B3Qo1_Q_w">special comb</a> to remove and keep them under control or in low numbers. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241124/original/file-20181017-41122-ih4t6z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241124/original/file-20181017-41122-ih4t6z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/241124/original/file-20181017-41122-ih4t6z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241124/original/file-20181017-41122-ih4t6z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241124/original/file-20181017-41122-ih4t6z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241124/original/file-20181017-41122-ih4t6z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241124/original/file-20181017-41122-ih4t6z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/241124/original/file-20181017-41122-ih4t6z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A female head louse.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">M. Alejandra Perotti</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our ancestors produced these fine combs using different materials, including bone, wood and even cactus spines, to allow a minimum space between the teeth of the comb to remove lice. And as the majority of people in the community had head lice – not just infants – these combs were the main or only tools used to tease or brush the hair. </p>
<p>In fact in Poland in the 1600s, a hair style known as “<em>plica polonica</em>” or <a href="https://www.hairscientists.org/hair-and-scalp-conditions/plica-polonica">Polish plait</a>, was quite <a href="https://vugradhistory.wordpress.com/2018/04/11/plica-polonica-a-mixture-of-religious-superstition-scientific-inquiry-racist-implication-and-the-stuff-of-folklore/">fashionable</a>. The style, which resembles a matted mass of hair, formed as the result of neglect – often combined with a severe head lice infestation – and would be sticky and moist. </p>
<h2>The science of head lice</h2>
<p>The cycle of head lice starts when a female lice lays eggs which are attached to the hair by gluing them at the root end. The lice produce a very strong, cement-like substance to do this.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245574/original/file-20181114-194519-jjjogp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245574/original/file-20181114-194519-jjjogp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245574/original/file-20181114-194519-jjjogp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245574/original/file-20181114-194519-jjjogp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245574/original/file-20181114-194519-jjjogp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245574/original/file-20181114-194519-jjjogp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245574/original/file-20181114-194519-jjjogp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245574/original/file-20181114-194519-jjjogp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1132&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ancient cactus comb from South America.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Museo Chileno de Arte Pre-Colombino/Alejandra Perotti</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The position of the newly delivered egg (known as a nit) is approximately 5mm from the scalp. This distance cannot be modified, or the embryo will not develop – because the temperature won’t be right.</p>
<p>During development, nits follow a specific regime of temperatures, a slight decreasing gradient of temperature as the hair grows and the nits become more and more distant from the scalp. So those nits closest to the scalp are the most recently laid on the hair – and chances are these are healthy living embryos. Those nits more than two centimetres away from the scalp look very obvious, with a whitish reflection. These are the empty eggs shells.</p>
<h2>How to get rid of them</h2>
<p>Two forms of head lice should be certainly considered as targets for control: the females and the newly born nits. To remove both forms, a fine comb – known as lice or louse comb – has been shown to be effective in terms of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00436-015-4311-8">treatment and prevention of heavy lice infestations</a>. </p>
<p>Of course, pharmacies tend to be well stocked with formulas and solutions to kill head lice – but there are other natural or non-chemical treatments that may still be worth a try. Traditional plant remedies are still used in continental Europe – for example, a herbal infusion from the chickpea plant. The infusion is made from dried beans and is then <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378874111007306?via%3Dihub">applied on the scalp</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245049/original/file-20181112-83573-1gay85k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245049/original/file-20181112-83573-1gay85k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245049/original/file-20181112-83573-1gay85k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245049/original/file-20181112-83573-1gay85k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245049/original/file-20181112-83573-1gay85k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245049/original/file-20181112-83573-1gay85k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245049/original/file-20181112-83573-1gay85k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">To clean a metal nit comb, dip it in a bowl of soapy water, or wipe it with a paper towel after each swipe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the UK in Tudor times, Hyssop’s oil, an aromatic herb was also <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/014107689608901219">used as treatment for head lice</a>. And Hyssop’s oil is still used to control lice to this day.</p>
<p>Considering the specific temperature needed for lice eggs to develop – and that drastic changes in temperature kills them – new methods are also now being developed to <a href="https://patents.google.com/patent/US20180255901A1/en">incorporate heat as part of regular treatment</a>. Investigations on devices producing hot air indicates high efficacy when properly <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/48/1/67/905557">applied on a regular basis</a>.</p>
<p>So to combat head lice without using messy shampoos and toxic chemicals, parents may want to try a combination of treatments: a traditional metal louse comb, as well as herbal infusions to apply topically on the hair or scalp, along with exposure to short but regular use of a hot hair dryer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104878/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alejandra Perotti receives funding from the BBSRC. </span></em></p>A huge rise in head lice and nits is expected in schools due to the NHS scrapping treatment.Alejandra Perotti, Associate Professor in Invertebrate Biology, University of ReadingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.