Report: Affordable housing harder to find

A new report indicates a minimum-wage earner would have to work 97 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, in order to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment in the Chicago area.

Mimi Chedid of Housing Action Illinois contends as rents continue to rise across Illinois, workers are spending more of their income on housing, leaving less money for food, clothing, transportation and other basic needs.

She says the persistent shortage of affordable rental housing, combined with the current economic slowdown, threatens the economic security of Illinois families.

In the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet metropolitan area, the monthly fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $944.

By traditional measure, housing is no longer affordable when individuals or families must spend more than 30 percent of their gross income on the expense.