Almost half of all homeless people in the city of Chicago work, but they have nowhere to call home simply because they do not make enough money to afford rent.

Sheila Moore knows first hand how the lack of living wage jobs hurts workers. In 2005, Sheila worked full-time, but her take-home pay was less than $1,000 per month, which was not enough to house her and her six children. Consequently, she and her family had to live in a shelter, where over several months she was able to save money for future housing.

Across Illinois, the Moore family’s situation is far from unusual. Comparing how much a person can make working a minimum wage job with how much a person needs to afford housing, it is easy to see why.

In Illinois, the minimum wage is $7.50 an hour and will rise to $8.25 an hour in 2010. However, in Cook County, a person needs to make $17.33 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment. While rent is less expensive outside Cook County, affordable housing is still out of reach for people working minimum or most low wage jobs. Across Illinois, for example, a person needs to make over $15 an hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment. (Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition, "Out of Reach 2005")

These statistics point to a continually unfolding tragedy: throughout the state, hundreds of thousands of people who work low wage jobs are often one paycheck away from becoming homeless.

Though the lack of a living wage affects everyone in the state, it hits certain groups of people particularly hard: women and minorities, who earn less than their white counterparts; people who are trying to get off public aid but are unable to find work that pays enough money to cover basic expenses; and formerly incarcerated men and women who are often denied access to living wage jobs because of their criminal record.

To prevent more people from becoming homeless and to help people who are already homeless afford their own housing, CCH advocates for living wage jobs at the state and local level.