High rents getting tougher on poor

Low-wage earners in Southern California are increasingly struggling to afford rents for decent apartments, according to the latest annual report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

The Washington-based advocacy group for the poor found that a worker in Los Angeles County must earn $21.98 an hour -- more than three times the state minimum wage of $6.75 -- to afford a standard two-bedroom apartment.

That means a minimum-wage earner in L.A. County would have to work 130 hours a week to be able to afford rent, and that same worker in San Bernardino County would need to log 103 hours a week.