Economic inequality is the disparities in people's incomes and wealth. It affects standard of living for different socioeconomic classes in a given country, as how high one's income is often dictates what they can eat and how often they can eat, what type of dwelling they can live in (to the point of becoming homeless sometimes), quality of medical care etc. Government policies to alleviate such inequality, especially by alleviating poverty, or at least trying to alleviate it, can include universal healthcare, welfare, universal basic income, increasing or decreasing business regulations, etc.