AIBU to give up an £80,000 job to work part time school hours?

But equally, finding a job paying 80k shouldn't be too difficult.

You won’t save much money on property in Bath, it’s one of the most expensive cities in the south west.

Op can you go part-time in your current role?
Or if you can it might be worthwhile sticking with full-time until your oldest starts school.

Thats when working shorter hours really has its advantages. Being able to collect kids and get them to clubs etc is a blessing.

Lots of kids clubs and activities seem to start at 4/5/6pm which just doesn't work if you are using wrap around care and don't finish work until 5pm

Could you do a compressed week, so 4 longer days, but without the salary drop? Or a 9-day fortnight, so you'd have a day off every other week, but again not losing any time or pay

Or get hit by a bus?

You're right. You have to think of all possibilities. Tragedy can strike at any time.

You're not being unreasonable either way but I'd question whether you'd have the lifestyle that you think you'll have in Bath on a significantly reduced income, a potentially less stimulating job, a DH who is away a lot more and two young children.

It sounds idyllic on paper but a huge risk if you can't find suitable p/t work - your savings pot won't last long if your income takes a massive drop or if you and DH were to split up. I'd look at other options as well - for example, taking a chunk of parental leave, going p/t in your current role, buying in help with the housework/garden.

( @HoskinsChoice "And I'd be a fucking awful employee at that level as I'd want to interfere and run the place!" This would be me too! 😊)

I don't see how it could work financially. If you move away from London you will both take a pay cut. His will probably go from 50K to maybe 40K, yours will go from 80K to maybe 20K if it's part time and school hours only. So you will end up with less than 50% of what you are earning now but Bath is definitely not 50% cheaper to live in than London. On top of that both your pensions will suffer, but yours will plummet.

Your job sounds really quite convenient, it would make much more sense to stay and reduce the hours for a few years than up sticks and go into a low paid job.

What is your pay for a TA part time - how many hours?

Tbh - if you have a £80k full time job on good condition (wfh/short commute) which you enjoy taking on a low paid TA job which is so hard work these days would be bonkers.
Sorry.

I did it. Left a well paying job when I had my 2nd child. Worked part time, teaching for 10 years and then went back to a full time private sector role in my previous field when DC2 was at secondary school. I still wanted to be doing a mentally stretching role whilst part time though and to know I could easily go full time and earn ok money if anything happened (divorce, illness etc).

Edited to add, BUT my husband had a reasonably high paying job. I wouldn't have done it if it meant we'd financially struggle/make too many compromises.

What if he leaves? What if you want to leave him? I’d use your job as a base case for supporting your family by yourself if you need to, if you never need to, okay, if you do, then you won’t need to worry. That’s the way I always played it (and I have adult kids, married for several decades).

It sounds like you want quite a different life from the one you have now so I'd look at it from another angle. What life do you want, does your husband want it too and how can that be afforded?
-you want to move to Bath. You'd have to give up your job but that's what you want anyway. But is your husband on board? It would be a huge life change for him with much less family time. How does he feel about that? If he doesn't want this, the plan is a non starter.
-if he is on board, the next step is to budget for that proposed life. Bath isn't particularly cheap. If you take a much more low paying job, will you still be able to pay the mortgage and afford your husband staying in London (and travelling) some nights? If not then again, the whole plan needs a rethink.
-if the costs don't add up then you need to think about the alternatives. Could you get a higher paying job in Bath and sacrifice some of the family time you want for a different location? If not, you can rule out Bath at this point.
-That leaves making things work in London or moving to a cheaper out of London as rea that is still commutable.

Ultimately though you are effectively looking at becoming a much lower income family if your husband is on £50k and you only work school hours. While I'm not trying to suggest it's poverty wages, families earning that much don't usually own homes in expensive parts of the country and you'd be looking at a significant drop in lifestyle. For me it would be too much of a hit to take.

Sorry blame the germs given to me by the lovely little people I work with. I initially read it as you wanted to work in a school.

But do research carefully because there aren’t many jobs that for perfectly around school hours

How easy would it be to get back into the employment you are in now if you left? I don't think YABU but carefully weigh it all up. Also what is in Bath that makes you want to move there? If your DH might be away for stretches for work, you need to be somewhere you feel happy & settled.

I'm considering reducing my hours for the same reasons, so I think YANBU. As long as it works with your finances then do for it.
What you are considering is a bit drastic, you could also consider reducing to 70-80%? Particularly if you end up staying in London and can do that with your current job.

I'd make sure you don't compromise your chances to go back full time in the future.
Also, personally I am waiting until I'm definitely done with pregnancies, so I can make the most of my corporate job enhanced maternity pay.

I think unless you’re passionate about working with young people then I would reconsider working in a school. People seem to have this idea of it being some sort of easy family friendly job but it isn’t.

I am a TA and I love my job but it’s tough and it’s getting tougher each year!

Different choices work for different people. I think the thing to really realistically assess is whether this lovely few hours job actually exists and will make you happy. Eg will it be so mind numbing it’s actually unpleasant. It’s really hard to get back in to senior jobs later so you may find you get a bit stuck for the long term. I would seriously look at a part time job or job share in your current industry/level as an alternative. You don’t actually need to be there for your kids all the time, and (whisper it soft) making baked beans every day can become exhausting and tedious just like work can!

there is nothing wrong with this at all if it’s what you want …..

but if I was your husband I’d want it recorded somewhere that it was solely your choice and decision to give up work and that you hadn’t supported my career and therefore couldn’t argue that in any divorce situation and expect to walk away with the majority of the assets on the basis that you (willingly) gave up your career….

I think almost everyone considers this when they are little. But they are only little for a very short time, you have a flexible employer, teens love London, life passes by very quickly.
My advice is ask about taking the full parental leave entitlement instead and buying holiday. Keep your career going.

What about the mental stimulation? Presumably at £80k, your current role challenges you and stimulates your intelligence. If you're taking a step back to a part time, school hours role, its unlikely to have the same level of strategy. The money would be irrelevant to me, taking a step back to a junior role would be my worst nightmare. (And I'd be a fucking awful employee at that level as I'd want to interfere and run the place!)