Final answer:
To determine Susan's net pay, we calculate her income based on hours worked and hourly wage, then adjust her government support by reducing it dollar for dollar against her earnings. The table we create will show the breakdown of these factors for different amounts of hours worked, demonstrating how her incentive to work is influenced by the program's structure.
Step-by-step explanation:
Creating Financial Incentive Tables
In the scenario provided, Susan, a single mother with three children earning $8 per hour, faces a trade-off between working hours and receiving government benefits. This is a mathematics problem involving creating a table to demonstrate the impact of work and government support on total income. To calculate Susan's net pay and total income, we must first determine her earnings from work by multiplying the number of hours she works by her hourly wage. Then, we subtract her earnings from the total government support available to account for the $1 reduction in government support for every $1 earned. Finally, we add the adjusted government support to her earnings from work to find her total income.
Here's an example of how the table would look for a few select hours:
Hours WorkedEarnings from WorkGovernment SupportTotal Income0 hours$0$16,000$16,000500 hours$4,000$12,000$16,0001,000 hours$8,000$8,000$16,0001,800 hours$14,400$1,600$16,0002,000 hours$16,000$0$16,000
The assistance program ensures that regardless of how much Susan works, up to 2,000 hours, her total income will be $16,000. The opportunity cost of working includes the time spent away from her children, and potential other benefits she may forgo by working. These factors may affect her incentive to work. If the program were structured to allow for some earnings to be kept in addition to government support, it would likely increase her incentive to work..