Page 32 - The Long Road Home

ECONOMIC AND HEALTH IMPACTS
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Survey Results
Displacement
Although some respondents stayed in their severely damaged homes, 80 percent of respondents moved out. Twenty- one percent of those who left their homes were displaced for two or more years, and almost as many (19 percent) still had not returned to their homes at the time they took the survey.
Job & Income Loss
In addition to shouldering the cost of rebuilding, the livelihood of 41 percent of households was affected by Sandy. Factors associated with job loss or decreased hours at work include:
• Sandy’s impacts on local employers (17 percent)
• Dealing with home damage and the recovery process (10 percent)
• Health issues that developed or worsened following Sandy (nine percent)
Our twins were born about 3 months before Sandy. Neither of us worked at the time, but planned to go back to work once the children were about 6 months old. Because of Sandy, we ended up moving multiple times, lost our child care options, suffered from physical and mental trauma, and have been unable to return to work.
an even larger group of survey respondents (55 percent) have had trouble paying bills and/or affording food and gas since the storm, with approximately two out of five of these individuals reporting that their finances had deteriorated in the past two years as the recovery has dragged on.
Long-Term Economic Impacts
The most important financial asset for many Americans is their home. Forty-three percent of the participating homeowners reported that the value of their homes had decreased since Sandy. Forty percent do not have the funds to complete rebuilding their homes. Many of those who have been able to fund repairs took on debt or used their savings to complete the reconstruction of their homes.
Clearly, Sandy has taken a toll on respondents’ financial stability including retirement and education savings. Two-thirds of respondents with high school or college-aged students indicated
• Family-owned business impacted by the storm (six percent)
In some cases, these factors intertwine as families already stressed dealt with the recovery.
More than one in ten survey participants reported their family incomes falling below federal poverty guidelines. Comparison of pre- and post- Sandy income levels reveals that over the past five years, an estimated 40 percent of respondents saw a decrease in their household incomes.
Thirty-five percent reported no change in their incomes, and only a quarter of the sample reported that their incomes increased.
One out of three respondents (32 percent) are at risk of losing their homes or apartments because they have fallen behind on mortgage or rent payments, taxes, or other expenses related to their Sandy-damaged home.
Given job loss, and the outlays of personal savings and retirement funds for rebuilding,
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