My partner is self-employed in a creative/technical industry where he either has an extreme amount of work on (say for an intensive few days a month, almost around the clock) or none at all (before the last 'batch' of work he did I don't think he earned anything for two months).
He's been doing this career for ten years and is obsessed about it and making a name for himself in it.
We have numerous on-going battles about the money that he is bringing in. We have just had a baby, so this is even more pertinent now.
When he does earn money he has severe cash flow problems, as the people who employ him don't seem to give a shit about paying contractors and he on average gets paid 2-3 months after doing a job, meaning that the money that comes in goes straight out again to the people who lent him money to tide him over whilst he was waiting to be paid!
He hasn't paid National Insurance in years and I am deeply worried about this, as it will affect him getting a pension in later life. He is burying his head in the sand and doesn't seem to give a shit.
He announced to me today that "my career is the most important thing to me in my life. Always has been, always will be".
This has made me deeply sad. What the hell am I supposed to think about this? :( Can a man's career REALLY be more important to him than his son and partner, or has he just lost the plot?
I am extremely sad (and angry - what a fuckwit - how can your career be the most important thing in your life?) and wondering whether I should just go it alone.