TY - JOUR T1 - Race and income disparities in disaster preparedness in old age JF - Journal of Gerontological Social Work Y1 - 2018 A1 - Cox, Kate A1 - BoRin Kim KW - Emergency preparedness KW - Income KW - Racial/ethnic differences KW - Women and Minorities AB - This study investigated to what extent income status and race/ethnicity in old age interplayed with disaster preparedness. Data came from the 2010 Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative panel survey of older Americans over 51 years old. Our sample was restricted to respondents who participated in a special survey about disaster preparedness (N=1,711). Disaster preparedness was measured as a score, which includes 13 variables. Race/ethnicity was categorized by White, Black, and Hispanic. Low income was defined as below 300% of the federal poverty line. OLS regression was used to examine the main and interaction effects of race/ethnicity and lower income status on disaster preparedness scores. We found that older adults in lower income status had lower preparedness level than those in higher income (Coef. =-0.318, p<.01). Hispanics tend to be less prepared compared to White and Blacks (Coef. =-0.608, p<.001). Preparedness of Black elders was not significantly different from that of Whites. However, interestingly, Black elders in lower income status were significantly less prepared for disaster than other groups (Coef. =- 0.622, p<.05). This study identified vulnerable subgroups of older adults for disaster preparedness and suggests that preparedness programs should target minority and low income elders. VL - 61 UR - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01634372.2018.1489929https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01634372.2018.1489929 IS - 7 JO - Journal of Gerontological Social Work ER -