SCC-CIVIC-PG Track B: Improving the Post-Flood Financial Resiliency of Low- and Moderate-Income Households

该项目从一个往往没有被研究但对人类有重大影响的角度探讨自然灾害的复原力--财务复原力。先前的研究发现，低收入家庭遭受灾害的比例更大，恢复速度也比其他居民慢。金融韧性--从经济冲击中恢复的能力--是复苏的其他方面的基础，也是更广泛的城市灾难韧性的必要条件。尽管如此，这是气候适应的一个未被充分研究的方面。尽管问题已经被发现，但对解决方案的可操作研究却很少。拟议中的项目旨在填补这一空白。该项目的具体目标是证明，提高纽约市中低收入(LMI)家庭(房主和租户)的财务弹性是弹性战略的基本要素，特别是在应对日益增加的城市洪水风险时。该项目分两个阶段，将由三个相互关联的研究部分组成：(1)设计一项试点政策干预；(2)提高家庭对灾害的财务知识和城市工作人员的能力；(3)制定一项衡量抗灾能力的指标，特别是针对LMI家庭。这项工作将由宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿风险中心、纽约市市长办公室、纽约市社区中心以及其他合作研究人员共同努力。这项工作将由一个在这一挑战方面拥有深厚专业知识的咨询委员会提供信息。试点计划将是公私合作项目，以展示财务弹性作为其他更典型研究方法的补充的重要性-因为LMI家庭往往储蓄不足，可能无法获得信贷，无法负担标准保险，并遭受不成比例的更长期损害。该项目的第一阶段将是利益相关者参与的阶段，包括根据选定的标准对保单进行评分，以确定在第二阶段试行的最有前景的解决方案：(1)参数小额保险，(2)低成本洪水缓解的保费减免，(3)当地洪水保险负担能力计划，(4)社区援助加上高可扣除的NFIP保单，(5)适当规模的保险覆盖范围，以及(6)基于社区的保险。第二个项目组成部分将是开发灾害金融知识工具，并通过具体的产品和参与战略在民间伙伴组织中积累关于这一主题的专门知识。先前的研究发现，提高金融知识使个人能够更好地抵御冲击。第三部分将为LMI家庭制定一项衡量其抗灾能力的指标。这一指标旨在为更广泛的学术文献提供信息，这些文献缺乏衡量这一特定概念的既定方法，并对城市项目具有实践意义。构建该指标将参考城市数据，以及对LMI家庭的调查。该项目是为了响应与NSF和国土安全部合作的Track B-公民创新挑战-对自然灾害的复原力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project addresses resiliency to natural disasters from a perspective that is frequently not researched but one that has major human impact - financial resilience. Prior research has found that low income households suffer disproportionately from disasters and recover less quickly than other residents. Financial resilience—the ability to recover from an economic shock—underpins other aspects of recovery and is a necessary condition for broader urban disaster resilience. Despite this, it is an under-investigated aspect of climate adaptation. While the problem has been identified, actionable research into solutions is scarce. The proposed project is designed to fill this gap. This project's specific objective is to demonstrate that increasing the financial resilience of low and moderate income (LMI) households (both homeowners and renters) in New York City presents an essential element of resilience strategies especially in response to increasing urban flooding risk. This project, across both phases, will be comprised of three inter-related research components: (1) designing a pilot policy intervention; (2) improving disaster financial literacy among households and capacity among city staff; and (3) developing a metric of financial resilience to disasters, especially for LMI households. The work will be a joint effort between the Wharton Risk Center at the University of Pennsylvania, the New York City Mayor’s Office of Resiliency, and the Center for NYC Neighborhoods, as well as other partner researchers. The work will be informed by an advisory board with deep expertise on this challenge. The pilot program will be a public-private partnership to demonstrate the importance of financial resiliency as a complement to other more typically researched approaches - since LMI households tend to have insufficient savings, can be locked out of credit, cannot afford standard insurance, and suffer disproportionately more longer term damage. Phase 1 of this project will be a period of stakeholder engagement, involving scoring policies against chosen criteria, to identify the most promising solution for piloting in Phase II: (1) parametric microinsurance, (2) premium reductions for low-cost flood mitigation, (3) a local flood insurance affordability program, (4) community assistance plus a high-deductible NFIP policy, (5) right-sizing insurance coverage, and (6) community-based insurance. The second project component will be developing disaster financial literacy tools and building expertise on this topic among civic partner organizations through specific products and engagement strategies. Prior work has found that increasing financial literacy makes individuals better able to withstand shocks. The third component will develop a metric of financial resilience to disasters for LMI households. This metric will be designed to inform the broader academic literature, which lacks an established approach to measurement of this specific concept, as well as be practically useful to city programs. Constructing the metric will draw on city data, as well as a survey of LMI households. This project is in response to Track B - CIVIC Innovation Challenge - Resilience to Natural Disasters a collaboration with NSF and the Department of Homeland Security.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.