New Report from the Urban Institute: Insult to Injury: Natural Disasters and Residents’ Financial Health (81 pp). 

Many families live on the financial edge, but a natural disaster can throw even better-situated families into financial turmoil. A natural disaster can lead to increased debt and delinquencies—increasing financial stress in the near term, but also longer-term declines in financial health. This study builds evidence on how natural disasters impact residents’ financial health. Our analyses compare the financial outcomes of residents in areas hit by natural disasters to otherwise similar people in communities not affected by natural disasters.