Getting Ready for Disaster: Exploring Gender Differentials in Disaster Preparedness in Brazil and Thailand

Raquel Guimaraes , Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (Univ. Vienna, IIASA, VID/ÖAW)
Raya Muttarak, Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Roman Hoffmann, Vienna Institute of Demography, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Gilvan R. Guedes, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)
Alisson F. Barbieri, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG)

Disaster preparedness – measures taken to prepare for the impacts of disasters – is a key strategy to disaster risk reduction. Identifying factors underlying disaster preparedness thus is crucial in designing policy intervention to promote disaster readiness. Indeed, previous studies have shown that demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, such as age, education, ethnicity/race, marital status and homeownership, are associated with disaster preparedness given differential levels of risk perception. Accordingly, it is highly likely that gender also plays a key role in determining disaster preparedness. However, to date, it remains unclear how gender influences disaster preparedness since although women are more likely to be risk averse (and consequently are more willing to prepare for a disaster) than men, they are also more likely to have less access to preparedness enabling resources. To this end, this study aims to empirically explore gender differences in disaster preparedness based on the survey data for two emerging economies: Brazil (2015/16) and Thailand (2013). We further test whether the effect of disaster experience and individual education vary by gender. For Thailand, women generally have higher level of disaster preparedness than men, particularly women with higher level of education. For Brazil, whilst there is no gender difference in the likelihood of preparedness amongst those who have never experienced a disaster, amongst those with disaster experience, women are significantly more likely than men to prepare for a disaster. Our findings reflect the gendered-nature of vulnerability to natural disasters and how country-difference in gender role and relationship influence disaster preparedness.

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 Presented in Session P3. Poster Session Migration, Economics, Environment, Methods, History and Policy