Persistence of Natural Disasters on Children's Health: Evidence from the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923

TL;DR

This study investigates the long-term impacts of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake on children's health, revealing gender-specific effects and the role of disaster relief and maternal stress factors.

Contribution

It provides new evidence on how a major natural disaster affects child health differently by gender and highlights the importance of relief efforts and maternal stress.

Findings

Fetal exposure caused stunting in girls in the affected area.

Disaster relief helped reduce stunting in boys but not girls.

Maternal stress contributed to adverse health effects.

Abstract

This study uses a catastrophic earthquake in 1923 to analyse the long-term effects of a natural disaster on children's health. I find that fetal exposure to Japan's Great Kanto Earthquake had stunting effects on girls in the devastated area. Disaster relief spending helped remediate stunting among boys by late primary school age, whereas it did not ameliorate girls' stunting, suggesting a prenatal selection mechanism and compensating investment after birth. While the maternal mental stress via the fear of vibrations and anticipation of future aftershocks played a role in the adverse health effects, the maternal nutritional stress via physical disruption also enhanced those effects.