If you work part time (3 days a week)…

[threedayswahey]

after DC, did you ever pick your hours back up? Was it easy to adjust to the drop in income? Which working pattern suited you best?

I am returning to work 3 days from October and nervous for the drop in income, around £700-800 less a month I think it works out at. I can’t imagine working any more and it wouldn’t make sense because of the cost of childcare amongst other reasons. I don’t know if it will ever be ‘easy’ for me to pick up more hours again though if I get used to this. I can imagine from speaking to friends that when they’re school age it’s just as much of a demand on your time, if not more. I’m nervous that I won’t be taken as seriously and that my workload won’t overly change, so I’ll do the same for significantly less pay. Lots of thoughts in my head about it all. I’ve always worked full time so it’s a big change!

In my experience, it’s easier to work full time when your kids are preschool age as when they start school, the school day is so short and childcare options are more limited (but not impossible). I worked full time during the pre-school years, part time during primary and back up to full time when dc went into secondary school. The advantage of that was that by the time I went part time I had a bit more seniority and flexibility. But in terms of income - my wages pretty much only paid for childcare so it wasn’t immediately helpful, financially.

i did work back up to it gradually after maternity leave though - it’s really hard to leave them at first and you have to make sure you really trust and are happy with the childcare setting (we actually chose a nanny - she was brilliant and I have no regrets)

going back to full time work when dc were older felt like the right thing to do for me personally and for us financially. But it’s difficult to change gears - both because I miss the time I used to spend at home, and because I’m a bit envious of my peers who worked full time all the way through and are now streets ahead of me.

But all in all I think we found a good balance - there are no right answers and nothing is completely easy.