While policymakers at both the federal and state level have devoted some energy to easing the financial strain on struggling homeowners, much less emphasis has been placed on bolstering the nation's rental housing stock, especially for low-income residents.

Congress passed the innovative National Housing Trust Fund but has yet to capitalize it. Here in Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn devoted just one percent of the capital construction plan to housing. The Treasury Department has granted the state authority to issue $184 million in tax-exempt bonds for the rehabilitation of housing units this year, but the money won't go very far. And in Chicago, Mayor Daley's "Plan for Transformation" is still behind schedule and a promising affordable housing ordinance doesn't yet have enough City Council support to move forward.

This is a big problem. One-third of U.S. households are renters and market conditions were already in pretty bad shape before the foreclosure crisis erupted.  In Chicago alone, an estimated 100,000 rental units were replaced by condominiums between 1989 and 2004. To make matters worse, rental demand continues to rise as more people lose their homes, wages stagnate, and unemployment deepens. When an apartment does open up, a new report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) shows that the working poor must devote a debilitating share of their income to paying the rent.

Using data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Labor, and the Social Security Administration, NLIHC estimates that the fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Illinois is $907 per month, the 17th highest in the nation. (In the Chicago region, the rate jumps to $1,015.) Assuming someone works a full 40-hour work week for the entire year, the typical Illinois household would need to earn $36,273 annually (or $17.44 per hour) to satisfy the federal definition of "affordability" (no more than 30 percent of a household's income should be spent on rent or mortgage payments, utilities, property taxes, and insurance combined).

How many households take home that much pay? Not nearly enough. The median wage among renters is only $15.05 hour. And the state's minimum wage, for those with jobs, is just $8 per hour. In other words, at least two incomes are needed to adequately cover rental costs in a majority of Illinois renting households.

Since 2000, Chicago's "housing wage" has increased 34.6 percent.  But with more budget leeway, the state could make a significant dent in this problem. Last year, for example, a coalition of housing advocates called for a $500 million investment in housing capital over five years.

Yet a $13 billion deficit means worthy projects must be left on the shelves. And low-income renters will continue to suffer as a result.