I have a job. I have a fulltime job in fact. In reality, I have a ‘more than fulltime’ job. I work between 40 and 50 hours each week. And the weeks I work 40 hours, I have probably put in more, but it’s not something I’ve done that would be considered ‘productive’, so I don’t record it. This may be time spent doing research. This may be time spent trying a technique out. If I’m not sitting in my office, and it didn’t produce something I can show, or I haven’t felt like I’ve moved further towards my goal, I may not record the hours. Or, it may have just been time I’ve taken in the evening or on the weekend to catch up with email.

I make a good salary. Between my partner and myself, we fit in that ‘upper middle class’ income bracket. But sometimes, I’d really not figure out what my hourly wages must be.

I have a couple of children who make between minimum wage and $10/hour. Neither of them has benefits through work. One works two jobs, as a matter of fact, because neither will give her more than 20 or 30 hours/week. And it’s hard to pay the bills with that much in wages and that few hours. For one of her jobs, she can just be ‘on call’, rather than have to go into the place of employment. Or, she may go in, and things are slow enough that they just send her home.

My son works as a ‘contractor’. He has to be laid off after a year so that the company can keep him as a contractor, rather than risk employment law forcing them to consider him an employee of the company. As a ‘contractor’, he’s making just above minimum wage. He also gets no benefits. And, because of the ‘contractor’ status, he has no job security.

Where is all this leading? Well, when I hear the unemployment rate is going down, I”m heartened. But I’m also leery. How many people are getting these types of jobs? How many people are working, but, by doing so becoming part of the working class poor rather than the unemployed? Conversely, how many people are holding onto jobs where they’re working pre-labor laws type hours and afraid to slow down because they know someone more hungry can take the job from them?

I just don’t know. But I’d like to see the numbers behind the numbers.