40% pay cut - should I do it?

[Nutbutter]

Name changed because some details here are a bit outing.

I appreciate this is really a first world problem. Sorry in advance.

Live in London, work as a lawyer earning c.£100k. DH is an academic on £30-35k (changes depending exactly how much teaching he does). Our mortgage payments are £2300 pcm which is c.30% of our joint income.

Thing is, we’ve just had a baby and I can’t face the thought of returning to a job that means I’ll never see her during the week (usual hours are 9.30-10pm, and often much later, plus some weekends). There’s a job going in the public sector where I may be able to work 5 days over 4 and generally be able to leave the office at a better time and might be able to do nursery pick ups etc. Downside is the pay is £60k. This would mean our mortgage payments would be around 40% of income. We’d be able to save £500 pcm for emergencies etc on this (also includes £1000 nursery fees).

Does this sound doable or is it a terrible idea? Ideally I’d like to have another baby in the next couple of years. I could stay at my current firm to do this but the public sector role doesn’t come up very often.

I did this. Not at the same salary level sadly but for similar reasons. I have no regrets at all. It's not only getting to spend time with the DCs but also realising my insomnia and stress wasn't incurable!

Interesting that you’re working those hours in disputes. There is definitely potential for you to have a better lifestyle either at another firm or in house. I’m also a litigator and while I may be more senior, I earn quite a bit more than you in-house and have both autonomy and flexibility in my role. There are opportunities out there - I was looking at other in-house lit roles just the other day and the market isn’t bad, especially at the mid-level (which I imagine you are based on current pay).

Alternatively can you work from home one or two days per week? At least then you might be able to take some time to put your DC to bed before continuing work if required?

Agree don’t go to 4 days a week. You just get paid less for doing the same amount of work with the added bonus of being taken less seriously.

The cabinet job sounds pretty cool - but you could probably get paid your current salary for working fewer hours at another firm. What’s your pqe?

I’m guessing your DH’s job isn’t permanent, given his income fluctuates and even so it’s below standard academic London salaries.

I’d be wary of changing your job, given the uncertainty of academic precarious contracts.

Also factor in that as your child(ren) leaves nursery you'll effectively get a further "pay rise". Yes , you'll probably need to pay a childminder but it's not as ruinous. It may be tight in the first few years but it sound like you'll recover.

Absolutely do it! You won't ever see your baby otherwise

Nowhere near the same figures but I did this after dc2. It’s been hard but we’ve adjusted and still manage to save and have a few luxuries. But we’re in the North where money goes further!
They’re only small once, I hated paying someone else to raise my children and missing so much.
It’s definitely doable.

I'm on Wall Street in an accounting role. A lot of my friends are Wall Street lawyers who have transitioned to much more family friendly roles working in house. You get paid the same for regular working hours and they are much more family friendly.

Take a look at insurance companies too. One friend moved to a role managing claims. She earned three promotions, now makes about £250k a year for her base. Depending on her performance review she gets up to 25% of her income as a bonus. She works from home 2-3 days a week. If her DC are sick she takes the day off, although she is like me and works from her phone.

Don't assume public sector is less hours. Often it isn't.

Take them for another round of maternity leave before you do that- if you’re planning more children. public sector maternity pay will be dismal
Still very much worth looking for in house work first, especially if you are sector specific. Good bonuses as well as perks and policies that you just don’t get in firms / public sector

alizarin I’m 4pqe. Expect to be promoted to SA on my return to work (unless they massively screw me over which is possible). I’m very conscious that this is a good time in my career to change firms, which is why I’d rather not go for my second child yet.

ladygregory I don’t want to be too specific about DH’s career as it’s a bit outing - he teaches something and also does the thing he teaches iyswim. He’s self-employed and high profile - just a shame it doesn’t pay more! Yes it’s kind of precarious but on the other hand he has eggs in a lot of baskets which provides some security.

Interesting about in house. I’ve never done any finance work which is where the majority of roles I’ve seen seem to be, and also have never done a secondment. I’ve just always had my head down working extremely hard for my current firm and now realising I have little to show for it despite consistently excellent performance. I’m sure it’s a typical story!

Go for less money and a better work life balance. I would.

Do people generally think a mortgage of 40% of income (on those figures) sounds ok? We don’t live lavishly atm but have done a lot of work to the house so all our spare money has gone on that. I didn’t have much money as a child so went into this career hoping to avoid
money stresses.

A mortgage of 40% would bother me immensely, but I'm sure that varies person to person

Take public sector job and move to a house you can afford.

I don't agree with moving, if you've done a lot of work on your house then I expect you have got it how you like it. I don't think it's a question of not being able to afford it, but more of wanting that high a percentage of your income to go to it

I'd do it.
Have you checked nursery fees? When I was looking in Lewisham area they were around £100 pd, if you live in a more affluent area they may be even more.

Apologies if you've already got that info watertight, I just didn't think £1000 would stretch very far unless you also have other childcare or your dh is going to be home some days when you're working.

Also consider nursery open and closing times if you're working such long hours!

I think a mortgage of 40% is very high. I like my housing cost (i.e. Rent) to be no more than 25% of my budget because the cost of kiddies is so high and we have childcare costs.

Do it. It's a great opportunity to continue your career but also have decent family time. I'd grab it with both hands! As for your mortgage, things might be a bit tight in the interim, but eventually your fixed deal with end and you can get a better one.

curlsldn Nursery is £1010/month for 4 days. DH is doing a day. We live in a “cheap” area of London (notwithstanding huge mortgage...).

I feel like a bit of a sucker tbh. Belatedly realising that you can’t “have it all” and even on huge salaries London isn’t really affordable.

If you can financially afford it I would do it in a heartbeat. Your wage will still be bet good.

I work in the public sector and do work a lot if hours but I have flexibility when I need it and I can work from home as well (some of the extra hours are worked from home). On a normal week I probably work 40-45 hours a week but on a bad week that could rise to 60 hours.

I don't have to to work much over regularly - it's more when it needs to be done for court cases I will as there simply isn't anyone else to do it for me, but I earn under 40k. There's very little admin support we do most our own admin as weve had alot of cuts but It's a veey different public sector area completely to where you are going. Theres v few on 60k plus but I get the impression those that are work most evenings during the week but they are all in senior managerial posts at that salary. However the work can be done at home. We have very good flexible working arrangements from that point if view and I love the ethos of public sector work. I also had good mat leave and mat pay for when you do want no.2.

@Nutbutter I am in exactly the same position! It's so hard, isn't it?? I am even considering (how seriously depends on the day) leaving London altogether and taking an even bigger paycut as my husband works away some of the week as it is.

My big concern is the finality. I am fairly sure if I leave my job/industry, I will never earn this much again. I don't want to regret it. But similarly , I could stay here and be rushed and have the money - and in 10 years regret that!

Sorry that isn't helpful at all - but sympathy!

I would do it in a heartbeat. I have effectively stepped off the career ladder for now, probably forever. Still have a highly paid job but don’t want to work all the hours and progress further and I want to see my kids. For a few years following having kids, I tried to have it all. I regret that now and can never get those years back. I work part time with a good balance now and in fact am looking to reduce my hours further. If I wanted to, I could switch back to career mode, increase my hours, start to look for a promotion, but to be honest, I cannot see that happening.

I am a lawyer too, also pregnant and anticipating maternity leave and life after it, and I wouldn't make this move. With nursery costs, and just the general additional pressure on resources when you have DC, a £40k pay cut is massive. And it is quite probably a one-way move, as it can be difficult to get back to private practice from public sector.

Your hours are long at your current firm but you can earn £100k at City firms without having to work past 6.30pm too. Could you not look for a different job in PP instead?

@1Wanda1 and others - what are these firms that pay £100k and have a good work life balance? I’m at a SC firm and recruiters have approached me before about jobs in firms slightly below mine in rankings (eg Eversheds, Pinsents) and the pay is a good 20k less and I’m not convinced the hours are significantly better.