From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgainfulgain‧ful /ˈɡeɪnfəl/ adjective → gainful employment/work/activity —gainfully adverb gainfully employed
Examples from the Corpus
gainful• It occurred to him that it might be easier to find gainful employment in Cornwall.• Indeed, it has even become fashionable for women to choose dependency by repudiating ambition and gainful employment once they have children.• Both surveys showed that for many people poverty was a way of life even when they were in gainful employment.• How does he survive without gainful employment?• In each decade of the twentieth century, fewer men over 65 have been entered in the censuses as in gainful employment.• Some of us actually have gainful employment.• The potential for a recession across most regions of the world will have ramifications for the prospects of expatriates in gainful employment.• When in low spirits, seek gainful employment.From Longman Business Dictionarygainfulgain‧ful /ˈgeɪnfəl/ adjective [only before a noun] formal gainful employment/work/activity work or activity for which you are paidThe United States now has a far higher proportion of its population in gainful employment than any other Western industrial economy. 