Final answer:
To meet her monthly budget, Sonya needs to earn $10.42 per hour if she is working 160 hours in a month, based on the goal of a $20,000 annual income divided by 12 months.
Step-by-step explanation:
If Sonya works 160 hours in one month, to calculate her average hourly wage we need to consider her total income for that month. In the provided scenarios, we've noted various examples of individuals with different hourly wages and government assistance, but a specific income goal hasn't been mentioned for Sonya. Let's assume she's akin to the single-parent family scenarios, aiming for a total monthly income to meet her budget needs. If we consider Sonya's case similar to the single mother who has to work 50 weeks a year, 40 hours a week to reach $20,000 annually, this translates to $1,666.67 per month (as $20,000 divided by 12 months).
To determine Sonya's needed average hourly wage, we divide her monthly income goal of $1,666.67 by the number of hours she works in a month (160 hours).
If Sonya's desired monthly income is $1,666.67, her average hourly wage would then be $1,666.67 / 160 hours = $10.42 per hour.