“Learning from Flint: The Health and Social Effects of the Flint Water Crisis on Educational Outcomes”

In 2014, Flint, Michigan switched its municipal water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River as a cost saving measure. As a result of prolonged denial and inaction by public officials, Flint’s 100,000 citizens were exposed to contaminated water for over a year and a half. For school-age children, the social effects of the Flint Water Crisis, potentially operating through mechanisms such as stigma, marginalization, and social unrest, were large compared to the health effects.