Final answer:
Without a comparison to Ren's financial situation, we can only analyze Susan's net pay. Susan can earn $8 per hour and loses government benefits equal to her earnings, which affects her total income and work incentives. Real income, which accounts for inflation, is generally more important than nominal income, especially in times of high inflation like today or the 1970s.
Step-by-step explanation:
Without information on Ren's earnings or job situation, we cannot directly compare Susan and Ren's net pay. However, we can analyze Susan's situation regarding her work and government benefits. Being a single mother with three children, Susan has the potential to earn $8 per hour for up to 2,000 or 1,800 hours per year - depending on the variation of the question - with an initial government benefit of $16,000 per year, which decreases by $1 for every $1 earned from work.
This creates a situation where earning more through work does not necessarily mean an increase in total income, as the increase in earnings results in an equal reduction in government support. For example, if Susan works enough hours to earn $8,000 through work, her $16,000 government benefit would be reduced by $8,000, leaving her with the same total income of $16,000. To determine the likely impacts on Susan's incentive to work and the potential opportunity costs, we would need to create a table showing different scenarios of hours worked and the respective earnings, government support and total income.