United Way Poverty Simulator
For those who have not experienced poverty, it can be hard to understand what happens, how it affects those living in poverty, and what they can do to help. There are many misconceptions about poverty, such as it being the result of a character flaw or it being easy to solve. In order to inspire change and action, people need a way to better understand poverty. The ASU Cloud Innovation Center (ASU CIC) and United Way of the National Capital Area have come together to create a poverty simulator to advance this understanding.
Problem
In 2020, it was reported by the United States Census Bureau that more than 37.2 million Americans live in poverty. This number has shown an increasing trend. Poverty limits access to resources such as healthy food, healthcare, education, and safe housing. The effects of poverty are long lasting and build up quickly, as reduced access to healthy food, healthcare, and safe housing can lead to severe medical issues that only become more difficult and expensive to treat down the line. Limited access to education can prevent people from accessing higher-paying jobs and opportunities. Poverty is often thought of as a personal failure and this myth stops people from supporting people in poverty and further reduces their access to resources.
Approach
To help people understand the reality of poverty, the ASU CIC created a prototype of a poverty simulator. The simulator features a timer, some character background, and a set of decisions to be made with a limited amount of credits. After every choice, a bit of information is given to help contextualize the situation. The simulator features topics such as housing, transportation, childcare, and other basic necessities. At the end of the first simulation, the prototype shows a breakdown of what the credits were spent on and provides a short reflection for the user. It then asks the user to budget for the next month, this time with real-life challenges thrown in.
To see a demonstration of the prototype, check out the video in the Supporting Artifacts section below.
Supporting Artifacts
Please refer to the artifacts below for more information on the United Way project.
Next Steps
The prototype has been completed and handed off to United Way.
About the ASU CIC
The ASU Smart Cities Cloud Innovation Center (CIC) is a strategic relationship with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and is supported by AWS on ASU’s Innovation campus - SkySong. The mission of the CIC is to drive Innovation Challenges that materially benefit the greater Phoenix metro area and beyond. The CIC will do this by solving pressing community and regional challenges, using shareable and repeatable technology solutions from ideation through prototype, as a service for the greater human good.
The CIC also provides real-world problem-solving experiences to students by immersing them in the application of proven innovation methods in combination with the latest technologies to solve important challenges in the public sector.
The challenges being addressed cover a wide variety of topics including homelessness, water conservation, vandalism, pedestrian safety, digital service delivery and many others. The CIC leverages the deep subject matter expertise of government, education and non-profit organizations to clearly understand the customers affected by public sector challenges and develops solutions that meet the customer needs.
For more information on the ASU CIC, to read about projects or to submit a challenge, please visit https://smartchallenges.asu.edu.