To find the average living wage required for both adults to support their family's basic needs, we first need to calculate the total monthly expenses based on the provided budget. Here’s the breakdown:
- Food and groceries: $637.08
- Child care: $701.25
- Medical: $725.58
- Housing: $1,324.17
- Transportation: $1,059.03
- Monthly taxes: $872.75
- Other basic necessities: $512.50
Now, let's sum these expenses:
\[ \text{Total Monthly Expenses} = 637.08 + 701.25 + 725.58 + 1,324.17 + 1,059.03 + 872.75 + 512.50 \]
Calculating this step by step:
- \( 637.08 + 701.25 = 1,338.33 \)
- \( 1,338.33 + 725.58 = 2,063.91 \)
- \( 2,063.91 + 1,324.17 = 3,388.08 \)
- \( 3,388.08 + 1,059.03 = 4,447.11 \)
- \( 4,447.11 + 872.75 = 5,319.86 \)
- \( 5,319.86 + 512.50 = 5,832.36 \)
Thus, the total monthly expenses are $5,832.36.
Next, we need to determine how much each adult would need to earn to meet this total monthly requirement. Since there are two working adults, we divide the total monthly expenses by 2 to find the living wage required for each adult:
\[ \text{Living wage per adult} = \frac{5,832.36}{2} = 2,916.18 \]
Now, we need to determine the hourly wage required for each adult, assuming a full-time schedule of 40 hours per week. There are approximately 4.33 weeks in a month, so the total hours worked in a month are:
\[ \text{Total hours per month} = 40 , \text{hours/week} \times 4.33 , \text{weeks/month} = 173.2 , \text{hours/month} \]
Now, we can calculate the required hourly wage:
\[ \text{Hourly wage} = \frac{2,916.18}{173.2} \approx 16.84 \]
Rounding to the nearest hundredth, the average living wage of both adults to support their family's basic needs is $16.84.
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