Natural Disasters, Economic Vulnerability, and Poverty: An Integrative Review of Pathways, Heterogeneity, and Policy Responses

Abstract

: The socioeconomic consequences of natural disasters depend not only on hazard intensity but also on household assets, income sources, housing conditions, health, gendered divisions of labor, and institutional support. This integrative review synthesizes 46 journal articles published between 2006 and 2026 on the relationships among natural disasters, economic vulnerability, and poverty. The literature is dominated by Asian case studies, household-and community-level analyses, and quantitative research. Across settings, disasters affect household welfare through damage to housing and productive assets, disruptions to agriculture and employment, higher prices and debt burdens, adverse health effects, and interrupted public services. Whether these shocks result in persistent poverty depends on pre-disaster poverty, inequality, housing quality, gender and caregiving responsibilities, social capital, infrastructure, and social protection. Recurrent disasters can also generate a feedback loop in which asset depletion and low-return coping strategies undermine future recovery. Recent research has broadened its focus from income losses to multidimensional poverty, inequality, energy poverty, time poverty, and the distributional effects of adaptation policies. Future studies should strengthen longitudinal and causal designs, harmonize the measurement of multidimensional poverty and vulnerability, and evaluate disaster risk reduction, social protection, and just transitions within a common analytical framework.