Changing jobs for better work life balance but much less money - anyone done this?

[Littlemiss74]

Has anyone changed jobs & taken quite a drop in pay in order to have a better work life balance? I am struggling with life at the moment; trying to work almost full time, husband away at times, 1 teenager & and 11 yr old who acts like a teenager. I have a chronic health condition, adhd and am menopausal. I can’t keep up with everything & I’m very unhappy. I want more time to support my family and not feel like I’m permanently chasing my tail. But my job is well paid for what I do and I wouldn’t get the same elsewhere. I’m actually thinking I’d like to do something completely different, possibly in an educational environment. I can’t carry on like this long term but worry that things would also be a struggle with less money. I feel so stuck. Has anyone felt similar or done this & how did you do it? Thanks😊

Yes I did this. I went self employed so I could set my own hours. It's actually worked out to be better pay which means I work less hours for the same money and am in total control of my workload.

Is going freelance an option for you?

I am waiting for a call following a job interview yesterday if im successful It would mean I'd be doing what you're thinking about, i currently work 31hrs pw across 3 days which means one of those days I don't see my children, the days are long. Im so tired on my days off I struggle to get things done! Its hard because I do enjoy my current job, but the job I've applied for would have me working 10-2.30 term time! The benefits would be too good to turn the job down! My children are quite a bit younger than yours though and I really want to be able to be home with them to help with reading and homework and spend holidays with them while they're still so young, it's worth the pay cut for me!

Obviously I do realise I'm fortunate to be in the position to be able to take a pay cut, the money I would save on childcare helps, I do understand not everyone is in the same position

Yes I did in April, my littlest was in before and after school club from 8am to 5.30pm every day, she’s only year 1 and I was missing so much so I changed my hours to finish at 3pm. I love it, I love being with her and having time to do things after school, sadly I can’t survive on the pay cut so after summer I am going to have to go back full time which is so shit

I did this, sort of. I have the same working hours and pattern but I moved from a management consultant type role to one in a charity. The pace is definitely less intense but I wouldn't say that I particularly have a better work/life balance. I enjoy my job which is probably the problem because I am happy to work in the evenings/my day off/at the weekends so I end up burning out.

My son did this. He is a lorry driver and was working 60 hours a week during pandemic as had to get food to supermarkets and hospitals. He was saving for deposit but he burned himself out. Left his job got another job in Hull where house prices are so much lower but wages lower too he took £4k pay cut on basic pay but working a lot less hours so much less overtime parents too. He is single though with no kids to provide for. I miss him living locally though.

DH did it. He went client side for a better work-life balance with the DC and the opportunity to live and work in his home country (where we are now).

The drop in income has not been easy and I am the person who has been most affected by this: things we used to outsource without thinking to make domestic life easier and run more smoothly, like cleaning, ironing, gardening etc, are now luxuries, and the two of us doing them badly or not at all actually creates more family tension and resentment than his absence due to deadlines or travel used to do.

As the DC have grown older and more independent they’re less distressed by him missing school stuff than they used to be, but on their behalf I’m becoming concerned about providing for them into young adulthood, which wouldn’t have been the case in DH’s much more lucrative previous career.

So in short, the downshift was good for him and for the kids when small, but has just created different problems for us as a family.