Vulnerability is a result of a community's economic, cultural, political, and social factors. The factors surrounding the people's daily lives determine what hazards they are exposed to and their ability to overcome them. The vulnerability can also be used to mean the lack of capacity to do something, weakness, or fragility. A community or individual could have the resources required to avert a hazard, but lack the knowledge, skills or capabilities to stop the danger. The presence or absence of particular social and economic factors either increase or decrease vulnerability. While certain factors accelerate the ability to overcome hazards, others make it more challenging to deal with a disaster.
Social factors
Stratification increases a population’s vulnerability to hazards. The upper social class is likely to receive more protection from hazards than the lower classes ( Cutter, Boruff & Shirley, 2015) . The high class comprises of government officials, successful business people, and others who have earned a prestigious life. In most cases, these people are involved in decision making, which they make in favor of themselves, thus push the lower class further from them. The upper class created the safest places for themselves and put in place prevention strategies against hazards for themselves before thinking of the lower class. Living in the lower class thus increases an individual’s risk of hazards. In most States, refugees, immigrants, people of color, and Hispanics are the majority of the lower class. For instance, States in arid regions such as Arizona experience dust storms. It is a natural occurring that is not too difficult to avert but still causes deaths. The median income in a household in Arizona is $56,581 in 2014 (Bernstein, 2015), where 50.5 % of this in the upper class, 35.5 % middle class, and the remaining 14%for the lower class. The unequal distribution of income despite a rapidly growing economy makes the lower class population more vulnerable to hazards.
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Gender also dictates how vulnerable one is to hazards. Males are more resilient, tend to keep their thinking objective and respond promptly during a crisis. On the other hand, females are likely to be swayed by emotion and panic in a crisis. Men are also stronger physically, which gives them endurance when hazards occur. Females suffer more due to hazards since they cannot endure for long. For instance, during floods, men can swim, form makeshift boats, and rescue their families, but women cannot keep going for long, They are likely to think of calling for help instead of saving themselves from the situation. The difference explains why more females perish due to such hazards.
The physical and physiological condition of an individual, including health, age, and disability also determine how individuals can rescue themselves during the disaster (Cutter, Boruff & Shirley, 2015). The elderly and the sick are unable to rescue themselves and end up perishing in a most crises. For instance, during Hurricane Katrina, many older adults were trapped and died in nursing facilities. As nurses were rescuing themselves, they could not take all the older adults with them. The disabled are also unable to move fast during a disaster due to a lack of friendly infrastructure, which makes them more vulnerable.
Economic factors
Poverty is a top factor that increases the vulnerability of a population ( Dalmazzone, 2016) . Preventing or dealing with hazards requires economic power. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and is vulnerable to tropical storms and earthquakes due to its location. Earthquakes have killed thousands in Haiti, but the government has not been able to do much in the preparedness of the same, despite the knowledge that such hazards could inevitably strike any time. If the United States were in Haiti's position, the damage wouldn't have been the same due to economic difference. The United States has enough funds to prevent and reduce the effects of such a disaster. Poverty thus slows down investment in prevention of hazards since the government opts to provide basics such as food and healthcare. The infrastructure, which includes housing and roads, is also poor, thus increased the severity of hazards. Tropical storms often result in huge losses and the death of citizens due to poorly constructed houses.
Globalization has made aversion of disasters easier ( Brunsma & Picou, 2018) . Trade is the avenue through which most inter-nation relations are created. The world is connected through technology, makes communication and sending of aid easier. The world unites fast when there is an emergency that needs funds to rescue or deliver aid to people. A disaster-struck nation receives aid from other nations to mitigate the effects of the calamity. For instance, during the 2009 Haiti earthquake, the world showed solidarity that led to the rescue of thousands of people. Relief food, personnel, evacuation means, medical aid, and expertise made it easier for the Haitian government to rescue more citizens. Although Haiti is not a rich country, globalization helped the government rescue and later put in place safety measures for its people against earthquakes.
Conclusion
Social and economic factors determine the preparedness of a population to disaster. While some increase vulnerability, others make the population safer. The governments of States, however, have the most significant control over how these social and economic factors affect the vulnerability of their citizens. By understanding what needs to be changed, governments can create safer spaces for their citizens. Prioritizing safety measures against hazards that are likely to strike their populations and preparing the people for disaster reduce the vulnerability of populations.
References
Bernstein, J. (2015). Pulling apart: A state-by-state analysis of income trends . DIANE Publishing.
Brunsma, D., & Picou, J. S. (2018). Disasters in the twenty-first century: Modern destruction and future instruction. Social Forces , 87 (2), 983-991.
Cutter, S. L., Boruff, B. J., & Shirley, W. L. (2015). Social vulnerability to environmental hazards. Social science quarterly , 84 (2), 242-261.
Dalmazzone, S. (2016). Economic factors affecting vulnerability to biological invasions. The economics of biological invasions , 17-30.
