Is it unusual for someone in their late thirties to have only ever worked part time?

[FullAndHollow]

Just idly wondering really.

A friend of mine in her late thirties has worked for most of her adult life but due to circumstances only ever part time.

I was just thinking I don't think I know anyone else our age who has never worked full time and wondering how common it is.

I'm mid 40s and I've only worked pt, but agree it's unusual and mainly because my circumstances aren't common. I feel quite lucky to have had the choice.
Generally I don't mention it in casual conversation, if people ask then I tell them what I do but don't go into hours worked (and most people assume I'm ft).

I have a friend of the same age as me, who is 55. She left university, worked for nearly two years, met a man at 23 and left work when pregnant about six months later. She’s never worked a day since. All her kids are left home too.

in her whole life she has worked for two years (never had a part time job before). I love her lots but it seems so weird to me that she has never wanted to work at all.

They are really happy and he’s now retired. They’ve never done anything - no holidays, no fancy cars etc. Just live a very simple life in which they are content. Not for me but everyone is different

Of course it is , “ circumstances” says it all

If you have children then no it’s not unusual at all. If you don’t, then yes I would say it’s unusual.

People work part time for a multitude of reasons. I am hoping to become one of them soon!!!

Not really. My friend is 33 and has played a non-professional sport at an international level since finishing her studies so she has to work to pay for her life but can’t work full time as she has so much training time plus all of the matches.
Childcare, house renovations, study, a really full on ‘hobby’, caring for a sick or elderly relative, or one’s own health issue, could all be reasons to work part-time, if you can afford it.

I’m forty and have never worked. I never tell anyone because anytime someone finds out they think it’s really weird.

Yeah probably. The most I've ever worked is 35 hours a week and not keen to go back to that tbh.

It's unusual because most people can't afford to do that, but I think almost everyone would like to!

I have mostly worked part-time as an employee because of long term health issues.

I also do some freelance work alongside that.

Most of my friends and colleagues (nurses and teachers) knew from the get go they wanted part time/three quarter time type work while raising a family.

I have always had part time jobs.
am 50 now- still part time.
i often become full time through two or more jobs concurrently, but I like the flexibility of PT. So I don’t think it’s that unusual.

I'm mid-30s and have only ever worked part time, apart from last year. I decided to apply to do a graduate medical degree after uni so got a job as a carer to get some experience, but was on a zero hours contract and rarely got full time hours. I then got pregnant in my first year of medical school, then again in my third and by the time I graduated found it impractical to work full time as a junior doctor with two kids and a husband on shifts. Both children now late primary and I finally went full time last year as husband has moved to a job with more regular hours, then got unexpectedly pregnant with DS3. So will be going back from maternity leave pt again!

I know a number of people who have made a living out of having a series of part-time jobs.

Some of them were doing this back in the 80s and 90s.

No, I don't think it's unusual.

I think it's relatively unusual if the person doesn't have children, purely because the cost of living is so high nowadays.

That said, I'm late 30s and only worked full time for 5 years. I had part time jobs as a teenager and throughout university, then got a full time job but went part time after having DD1 and have done some combination of either three or four days a week at work ever since.

I'm late 30s and have only ever worked part time due to disabilities. I think it significantly depends on circumstances and also depends what you mean by part time iv worked anywhere from 12 hrs when at college to 30hrs in my 20s to now 20hrs in my 30s as I just physically can't do anymore

My husband is early thirties and he has only worked part time, firstly due to a disability and now due to also being a parent and wanting more time at home with the kids.

Yes it is unusual, but seems to becoming more common in Gen Z.

I also think it's getting increasingly difficult to get a full time job especially in non skilled minimum wage roles.

So do you pretend you work to your friends/neighbours/family? You normally notice people's routines.

It's unusual yes but it boils down to envy. I do 30 hours a week. People shouldn't worry about others lives so much

It’s not unusual these days with flexible working etc but it used to be when I started working in the 1980s/90s.

Also the benefits system has changed so that people are supported if they are ill or have commitments at home eg carer.

Employers tend to be more flexible and family friendly than they were in the past too. (I know this is not all jobs.)

I know someone who is 50 and has never worked. Never had a job!
She did her degree, got pregnant, married and has 5 kids.

After our 2nd child went to nursery I rejoined the work force part time.
Retired at 60 only working part time.

Then she has worked hard! Just not in paid employment.

It’s unusual in the sense that most women I know didn’t have children until their 30s, so there would have been a whole decade before that when they wouldn’t have had childcare issues when they could have worked full time.

That said, while I have worked FT both while in education and in my 30s/40s after having children (I also worked PT at times), I was also in education until I was in my early 30s (so from 18 to probably 33, with a break here and there) because that’s how long my specific professional qualification took. I suppose if I hadn’t worked during that time (there were times when I worked FT alongside it) then I might not have worked much at all pre-children. I can see it’s possible, but unlikely.

But people do seem a bit eye rolly and assume that someone who doesn’t work FT is sucking off the system. Neither Dh nor I work FT now (in our 40s). We don’t have to. We are high earners, comfortably well off, lovely house with mortgage to be paid off in not too many years, no other debt, never been on benefits. We worked hard and now can enjoy more time for things we enjoy and don’t have to use wraparound childcare because one or both of us is always home.