Welfare & inequality
Welfare states, inequality & the politics of redistribution
Who Catches You?
The same shock. Four lives. Who gets caught by the safety net?
A missed pay packet. A clinic bill. Care that cannot wait. Step into four lives, follow how wealth accumulates, then discover why a majority wanting protection may still struggle to secure it. Test rival explanations and inspect real evidence from Sweden, the United States and Brazil.
For Class requires the complete Full activity and final report action before assignment printing or downloads. Core and Full length choices, where offered, are available in For Fun. Save a progress backup whenever you need to pause.
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What you can explore
- Distinguish need, eligibility, cash protection and unpaid care.
- Explain how ownership, returns, saving and tax rules shape wealth trajectories.
- Compare decisive-voter and organized-power explanations of redistribution.
- Use dated country evidence without treating a descriptive comparison as a causal experiment.
TAKE IT WITH YOU
Keep the game. Keep your questions.
Play online or download the self-contained HTML game. No installation or student account is needed.
- Download the game · HTML
- Student guide · printable
- Teaching guide · learning goals, discussion and assessment
For Class, complete Full and assemble the report before printing or exporting the assignment. A progress backup lets you pause or move devices; downloading does not submit work.
What the model leaves open
Households, wealth trajectories, voting and coalition rules are simplified fictional teaching models. Country evidence is frozen at 2024 and uses separately ranked income and net-wealth distributions. The comparison does not identify the causal effect of welfare policies.
AFTERWARD, THINK ABOUT
Who qualified for help, and which needs remained uncovered?
Teaching this activity Debrief, assessment & assignment draft
Bring it back to the room
- Who qualified for help, and which needs remained uncovered?
- When did a preference for protection fail to become a funded commitment?
- What evidence could distinguish the two explanations of redistribution?
What to assess
Assess an explicit mechanism, accurate measures, relevant comparisons, a fair rival, evidence-based revision and the limits of inference. Completion checks presence and length, not argument quality or preferred policy.
Read the complete teaching guide →Syllabus description, rubric & printable companion →
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Syllabus description & discussion prompts
Syllabus description
A missed pay packet. A clinic bill. Care that cannot wait. Step into four lives, follow how wealth accumulates, then discover why a majority wanting protection may still struggle to secure it. Test rival explanations and inspect real evidence from Sweden, the United States and Brazil. Students produce a field report with model comparisons, country evidence, a revised explanation and a transfer argument.
Questions for a discussion board or class debrief
- Who qualified for help, and which needs remained uncovered?
- When did a preference for protection fail to become a funded commitment?
- What evidence could distinguish the two explanations of redistribution?