Social determinants in choice of shelter: an evidence-based analysis

This research looked for social determinants that shaped choices of shelter during a natural disaster. The choices consisted of hotels/rental houses, finding relatives/friends, contacting the government for help, and checking for information about public shelters online. Social determinants examined included age, disability, education, income, social network, trust in the government, and previous disaster experience. The 2013 Taiwan Social Change Survey data and logistic regression were used for analysis. The findings were as follows: (1) compared with other groups, the richest favored hotels or rental houses for sheltering. (2) Compared with other groups, people with lower levels of education had a tendency to contact the government for help regarding shelter. (3) Compared with other groups, young people (20–34 years old), people with larger social networks (informal social capital), and people with more than one previous disaster experience preferred to contact relatives or friends for shelter. (4) People with at least a senior high school education were more likely to search for sheltering information online than their counterparts. This study provides new contributions to the literature in its investigation of the influences of social networks and previous natural disaster experience on shelter choice and of education on the choice of checking sheltering information online.