Can any stats nerds link me to anything on the BLS or similar re: what percentage of working-age people in the US *are* employed (and what percentage of that are employed full-time)? If there's info on what percentage of THAT population are earning a living wage (or aren't working because they're in a household where their partner's income covers them both), that would be fantastic. As would historical comparisons.
Even with the U-7 (which is a more accurate representation than what gets reported in the news), it's obfuscated by issues like people on social security, incarcerated, otherwise institutionalized, having dropped out of the labor force because nobody's hiring them (this can directly result in people who can probably work if the right job exists trying for disability, btw), and in school (often synonymous with having dropped out of the labor force, at this point). Also by people working part-time, and, frankly, I think that the people who are working full-time, minimum-wage and still eligible for (and in need of) government assistance to get by really kind of inappropriately pad the implied employment rate, too. You can't subtract the unemployment rate from 100% and come up with the number of people who are working and making enough money to get by.
Anyway, I'm assuming this measure probably doesn't exist (honestly I think it's probably so abysmal that the government is disincentified to report it), but if it does, I want to see it.
You seem to be lost in your own thoughts.