Social Vulnerability Index: Barbados – A Case Study

A Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) was developed for Barbados to identify geospatial variations in social vulnerability. The SVI focused on socioeconomic status, gender, age, special needs and property type - represented by eight variables selected from census data. For the purposes of overlaying with hazard exposure mapping to assess hazard risk, the SVI that was developed is widely applicable and flexible. However, primarily because of the limitations of available georeferenced social data, the SVI provides only a very general indicator of the spatial distribution of vulnerability. Medium and high levels of social vulnerability appear to be widespread across Barbados with no discernible spatial pattern, reinforcing the importance of island-wide efforts to reduce vulnerability. Ultimately, the SVI is a useful starting point for further investigation of social vulnerability; the analysis showed what can and, perhaps as importantly, what cannot be determined about the spatial distribution of social vulnerability using existing available data. There is a need to validate the SVI, and improved data collection to record and evaluate post-disaster social impacts would enhance predictive tools. More extensive georeferenced social data collected during the decennial census would provide robust data to support the development of SVIs. However, census data may not offer solutions unless it is possible to spatially aggregate the data by smaller units that are more demographically homogeneous, and therefore, cross referencing with other data and/or strategically collecting additional data using the SVI as a framework.