how do others do it

[Xocharxo]

I currently work at the same pub/restaurant that I started working at at 18, I'm now 24 and have a 4 1/2 year old son.. Before I fell pregnant I worked full time and even had a part time job on the side, I didn't find out I was pregnant until I was four months gone and in the time before that my part time job didn't work out as I was throwing up at work and having to be sent home a lot, once I did find out I was pregnant and I told my full time job they slowly cut my hours down claiming it was for my wellbeing, later I then found out because my boss had cut my hours from 40+ down to 10 a week I wasn't able to get maternity pay from them which left me no choice as a single mum to go to the job centre. Once I was ready to go back to work a little under a year later I was only doing 16hours a week, there is now rumours going around my work that me and my partner of nearly 3 years are trying for a baby but this isn't true yet my boss has already cut my hours back down to 10, and only allows me to work evening because he's knows majority of the time I can't get child care because my partner works away a lot and my dad has recently been diagnosed with a form of bone cancer and is not up to having a hyper 4 year old running around at home.. I want to get a new job and hopefully work whilst my son is as school but I'm worried about when he's on half terms and inset days, I doubt any job is flexible about you not being in for weeks at a time and I don't want to cart my son off to a playground in the summer holidays. I know I'm not making it easy for myself but I just don't know what to do I feel so lost and don't know who to ask for advice. Help please!

[Meandacat]

Poor you, what a struggle. Id say it was definitely time to move on from your current place of work as they don't sound very supportive. Given your worries about school hols etc., have you thought about working in a school? Office staff, cleaners, classroom assistants etc usually only work term time, and given your current experience, maybe you could look into school catering?

What about temp agencies? I appreciate its not reliable work, but you might be able to pick and choose when you work and you never know, you might also find somewhere better than where you are now that could turn into something long term.

Or could you retrain? Get some office skills and go into something with more regular, child-friendly hours? Or even train in childcare and become a child minder yourself?! Get in touch with your local careers service. It's not just for school-leavers, you know! They really can help a lot and should be able to advise on much more than I'm coming up with off the top of my head here!

My DH and I both work full-time and have no family able to cover our backs when it comes to childcare. DD went to nursery and now after-school club. We split our annual leave as much as we can to cover school hols, I offer to watch other DD's pals on the days I'm off in return for the favour from other mums on odd days... anything else and we have to sign her up for holiday clubs. But so long as we're able to keep that to a minimum, it's do-able cost-wise.

Good luck!

[stitch10yearson]

I had to give up work when my babies were little, as my working was a luxury I couldnt justify as it cost me more in childcare than I brought home.

Your manager sounds like a nasty person. Regardless of extending your family, I think you need to find a more reasonable employer.