The BLS numbers break down the access, participation, and take-up rates for public and private workers, as well as union and non-union, full time and part-time.

The BLS numbers break down the access, participation, and take-up rates for public and private workers, as well as union and non-union, full time and part-time. There’s a very handy table. For all workers overall, access is 72%, take-up is 73%, so overall participation is 52%. Thats Table 1, Row 1. Of course sub-populations like part-time workers have lower access and take-up, but they are included in the average for All Workers. See Table 1 on Page 6 of the BLS numbers. The claim that “benefits are rare” is demonstrably false. Benefits are rare for certain sub-populations of US workers, but not rare overall. Real wage are stagnant (not clear if those real wages are accounting for increased employer share of medical benefits) from the 1970s. Real household income is not stagnant, particularly since 2010. (Edit: Household income vs individual wages — perhaps household income rising reflects mainly the participation rate increasing? Which would be a negative effect on individual wages.) Again, the point is about recent increases in suicide rate in the context of a 2008 recession.