Poverty & Living Standards System

I think Lawmaker Simulator would benefit greatly from a dynamic Poverty & Living Standards System.

Instead of poverty simply being a percentage, the game could simulate why people become poor, what keeps them in poverty, and how government policies affect their ability to escape it.

📊 1. Poverty Rate

Add a national poverty indicator showing the percentage of the population living below the country's poverty threshold.

Possible categories:

- Extreme Poverty

- Poverty

- Near-Poverty / Vulnerable

- Middle Income

- High Income

The poverty threshold should adapt to the country's economic conditions and cost of living.

🏠 2. Cost of Living

Poverty should depend on both income and the cost of essential goods and services.

The cost-of-living index could include:

- Housing

- Food

- Energy

- Transportation

- Healthcare

- Education

- Utilities

This would create realistic situations where wages increase but poverty can still rise if living costs increase faster.

👷 3. Employment & Working Poverty

Not everyone below the poverty line should be unemployed.

The game should distinguish between:

- Unemployed

- Part-time workers

- Low-wage workers

- Working poor

- Average-income workers

- High-income workers

This would make policies such as minimum wage, labor protections, unemployment benefits and working-hour laws much more meaningful.

🏥 4. Welfare & Social Safety Net

Government policies should directly affect poverty.

Possible policies:

- Unemployment benefits

- Child benefits

- Pensions

- Housing assistance

- Food assistance

- Disability benefits

- Universal Basic Income

- Free healthcare

- Free education

- Subsidized public transportation

These policies should reduce poverty but also have government budget costs.

🔒 5. Poverty Trap

Introduce a poverty trap mechanic.

People experiencing persistent poverty could struggle to escape because they cannot afford:

- Education

- Healthcare

- Transportation

- Childcare

- Housing

- Training

Investment in these areas could increase social mobility and help people move out of poverty over time.

🗺️ 6. Regional Poverty

Poverty should not be identical across the entire country.

Different regions could have different:

- Poverty rates

- Unemployment

- Average wages

- Housing costs

- Economic opportunities

For example:

«Region A — 7% poverty

Region B — 15% poverty

Region C — 27% poverty»

Governments could then introduce regional development programs and targeted investment.

📈 7. Inequality

Add income inequality separately from poverty.

For example, use a Gini coefficient:

«Poverty: 6%

Inequality: High»

or:

«Poverty: 18%

Inequality: Moderate»

This would make it possible for players to distinguish between reducing poverty and reducing wealth inequality.

🔄 8. Dynamic Economic Effects

Poverty should interact with the rest of the simulation.

For example:

Higher minimum wage

→ Higher worker incomes

→ Lower working poverty

→ Higher business labor costs

→ Possible employment/inflation effects

Social housing investment

→ Lower housing costs

→ Lower poverty

→ Higher government expenditure

Welfare cuts

→ Lower government expenditure

→ Potentially higher poverty

Education investment

→ Higher educational attainment

→ Greater productivity

→ Higher long-term incomes

→ Lower future poverty

This would make government policies interact instead of functioning as isolated statistics.

👶 9. Long-Term Effects

Persistent poverty should affect future generations.

High poverty could contribute to:

- Lower educational attainment

- Worse health outcomes

- Lower productivity

- Lower social mobility

- Higher long-term welfare dependency

Meanwhile, investment in children, education, healthcare and housing could gradually improve outcomes over multiple years.

🗳️ 10. Political Consequences

Poverty and living standards should have political consequences.

High poverty could contribute to:

- Lower government approval

- Public dissatisfaction

- Protests and strikes

- Increased demand for welfare policies

- Increased political polarization

- Greater support for parties offering economic reforms

Successful poverty reduction could improve public satisfaction and living standards.

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🎯 Main Goal

The goal shouldn't be to make poverty just another statistic.

It should become a dynamic system connecting income, employment, wages, welfare, taxation, housing, healthcare, education, inflation and regional development.

This would make economic and social policies much more meaningful because players would have to consider how their decisions affect people's actual standard of living, not just GDP and government finances.

Poverty should be something governments can reduce, but never simply eliminate with one policy — it should respond to the entire economic and social system.