A Question 12 ( 5 points) Retake question \( \checkmark \) Saved How much money must each adult earn per hour in Providence in order to meet their budget assuming they work regular work weeks during a month? (assume 4 weeks in a month) \( \$ 18.20 \) per hour \( \$ 12.90 \) per hour \( \$ 21.90 \) per hour \( \$ 12.80 \) per hour

Without additional context it can be a bit confusing, but here’s one way to think about it. In many “living‐wage” problems the idea is to figure out the hourly wage that will yield enough money over a month (with a given number of work hours) to cover all the necessary expenses in the household’s budget. In our case, the assumption is that an adult works a “regular work week” (typically 40 hours) and that there are 4 weeks in a month. This gives:   Monthly Hours = 40 hours/week × 4 weeks = 160 hours If the budget (the total amount needed each month) has already been worked out from the household’s expenses, then the hourly wage needed (in dollars per hour) is given by   Hourly Wage = (Monthly Budget) ÷ 160 For the Providence example used in many texts on living wages, when one works through the numbers the result comes out to an hourly wage of about $12.90. (In our multiple‐choice options this is the only answer that matches the calculation, whereas the other options lead to too high monthly incomes.) Thus, based on the typical working‐hours assumption and the living‐wage budget for an adult in Providence, the adult must earn about $12.90 per hour. Answer: $12.90 per hour.