Households with pensioners are most likely to have stockpiled items

Pensioners are the most likely to have stockpiled items in preparation for a crisis, such as the current coronavirus pandemic, according to new research. US scientists found households headed up by pensioners are the most likely to have items stockpiled ready for a disaster, such as bottled water, tinned food and a back-up generator. 'Preparedness was measured using nine items included in the disaster preparedness module of the American Housing Survey,' lead author Dr Lucila M. Zamboni at the University at Albany-State University of New York told MailOnline. Out of the more than 16,000 households, two-thirds – 68.9 per cent – met at least half the criteria for preparedness, 53.9 per cent met four, five or six of the recommended items and only 3 per cent met all nine. Wealthy households and those with heads of household who were aged 65 years or older were most likely to fulfil at least half of resource-based items, but less likely to fulfill recommendations for action-based items.