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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think its strange someone single and child free wanting to work part time

161 replies

Oolva · 29/10/2015 18:04

Ive got someone on my team without any children and late 2o's. Wants to work part time. It will cause me a bit of effort as will need to get a new hire in to cover the other days and I'm a bit annoyed with all the investment ive made on custom equipment (several grand!) And training courses. I could refuse on buisness grounds but I probably won't.

Aibu to think its q bit odd? He's saying he will have to work forvever and can't afford a house but I think he's shot himself in the foot as if he worked harder could afford a pension and a house eventually.

OP posts:
MissDuke · 29/10/2015 19:07

Op there was a time that I thought like you and would find it strange, because to me full time is the 'norm'. However now I am a bit older I am of the opinion that we should all work as few hours as we can afford, there is so much more to life than work. I have been part time for ten years, currently embarking on a career change, but hope to stay part time for as long as possible, depending on family finances.

justgoandgetalife · 29/10/2015 19:07

LeaLeander: me too. Suspect my childless sisters would love to go pt if they could afford it. I also resent the implication that now my kids are teens I ought to go ft. They still need keeping an eye on, homework, ferrying to clubs due to their varied interests & making sure they don't go off the rails when they are vulnerable due to all those raging hormones!

I'm supporting DH so he can work hard in a job he enjoys & I do everything else.

SolidGoldBrass · 29/10/2015 19:11

Interesting to compare this thread with the tax credits one: working part time is definitely desirable and much healthier than the ridiculous 'presentee' culture (particularly as an awful lot of the people who boast about their long, long hours in the office spend about half that office time wanking/gossiping/playing Candy Crush/making cups of tea/scratching their arses anyway). Yet for many people, the hourly rate of pay is so fucking low that they have to work stupid long hours.
There's a huge problem with the whole concept of 'work'. Many boring, repetitive tasks could be automated; many already are, so there is less of a need for human beings to undertake some of these tasks. Yet Government ministers (the majority of whom, these days, have never done anything that could be regarded as 'work' of the sort they insist others do - pulling pints, scrubbing floors, wiping arses, stacking shelves) are continually pushing the idea that the only way to be a worthwhile human being is to spend the bulk of your time doing something that you don't like much and which ultimately enriches someone other than you.

SolidGoldBrass · 29/10/2015 19:15

ALso, OP, do you think you are getting your undies in a bundle because on some level you believe that it's OK for women to go part-time, because the purpose of their lives is really to service other people out of love and duty rather than for money, whereas men earn wages and focus on having careers because they have a woman in the background to take care of everything else?

SolidGoldBrass · 29/10/2015 19:16

(Oh BTW, I am very nosey and you don't have to answer if it will out you, but would love to know what kind of job needs thousands of pounds spent on custom equipment for the employee...)

ComposHatComesBack · 29/10/2015 19:17

Lots of the younger full time staff (20s and 30s) went part time where I work. It is a shite dead end job with long hours. They can drop a day or so a week and because it takes you below the income tax threshold it makes little difference financially and you can preserve a shred of sanity.

CainInThePunting · 29/10/2015 19:20

YABU to think it's odd.

Unusual maybe but you don't know his situation.

Maybe he wants to study, or set up his own business or volunteer?

Whatever his reason, if he hasn't shared it with you then it's not your place to judge.

He might have alternative plans to secure his future than to get on the materialistic housing ladder and pay into a pension pot that will probably end up insufficient or plundered by the government. There are many ways to skin a cat.

Wish him luck and give him your support.

Queenbean · 29/10/2015 19:22

SolidGoldBrass I think the OP is a knight and the employee has had a custom made suit of armour?

Spectre8 · 29/10/2015 19:31

Sometimes I get so wound up over this and feel that there is huge cultural bias against singe people....

  1. Flexible working - still the notion that you can apply for flexible working if you have child and therefore clearly reasonable to want to work less (OP proves this point)

  2. Tax breaks via the Child tax credit...why can't single people be given a bit of a tax break for once

  3. Annual leave at work - unwritten rule that there is no point requesting annual leave when half term hits as parents are favoured.

  4. Always having to cover people's work because they had to leave early for child's parent evening/sickness etc.

  5. Expectation and pressure that you are able to work late or cancel your evening plans because 'you don't have kids to look after' so what do you need to get home for.

Uff!

EBearhug · 29/10/2015 20:07

Most of my Dutch colleagues work 4 day weeks. I do envy them the time in some ways, but I wouldn't choose to have a 20% salary cut. I am single and childless, and would have no problem in filling up the time.

Everyone has the right to request flexible working these days. It's nothing to do with you why they choose to do so - you only need to consider whether what is requested can fit in with the business or not.

catbally · 29/10/2015 20:11

This winds me up. Only women with children should ask for part time hours, really.

LibrariesGaveUsP0wer · 29/10/2015 20:14

If he's only in his 20s perhaps he wants a rounded life, interests and the chance to meet a partner one day.

CocktailQueen · 29/10/2015 20:18

Really, catbally? How shocking. What on earth are you basing this on? Why should the choice to have kids be the only valid reason for wanting to work part time??

PurpleDaisies · 29/10/2015 20:24

Everything spectre says above.

I would add

  1. Being considered selfish for not wanting to work Christmas for the umpteenth year in a row because "Christmas is for families". Apparently my family doesn't count because there aren't children in it.
catbally · 29/10/2015 20:25

Sorry CocktailQueen I probably worded that wrong. It always seems to be assumed that the only reason people work part time is due to children/child care when actually they just want to work part time for other reasons. Please don't take what I said any other way.

wigglesrock · 29/10/2015 20:27

I worked part time from my late twenties, I didn't have kids then. I was ill and changed jobs and hours when I felt well enough to return to work. I certainly didn't share my reasons with work colleagues.

chelle792 · 29/10/2015 20:29

YABU. I work part time through choice, OH takes a fair amount of time off work. We don't have kids but appreciate a work life balance. We are both under the age of 30.

Some say 'it's alright for some" but I'm the one who has chosen to earn less and have more free time. If they are jealous they should do the same

Natkingcole9 · 29/10/2015 21:03

I agree with scarlet.

SolidGoldBrass · 29/10/2015 21:45

There is, also, the problem that if you are poor, you are expected to resolve this by working far more hours in any dangerous, insecure, shitty, poorly-paid job you are offered. If you are poor, you don't have any entitlement to a work-life balance in many people's opinion. If you are poor, even if you need to work fewer hours because you have dependents who need care or your health isn't good, you're still going to be stigmatized as lazy and 'workshy'. If you are not poor, but were lucky enough to get a good education and sufficient family support to land a reasonably well paid job, or you have a high-earning partner and you have a secure home, then you can think about your work-life balance.

Unreasonablebetty · 29/10/2015 21:53

This will seem like such an odd guess, but is he a JW or Mormon?
I know a lot of JWs, very few that I know work full time. Many take part time jobs to go on the ministry (door knocking)

Whatthefoxgoingon · 29/10/2015 21:55

My childless sister works part time. Her husband earns £10k plus every month after tax. They don't need the money so why would she work any more than she does now? I'm sure she's very happy with her work life balance. I work crazy hours running a business so totally Envy

Original poster
Oolva · 29/10/2015 21:56

Equipment bought is a special sit stand desk, keyboard, mouse type thing and chair.

Anyway thanks for all the other views, I'm just w bit outdated probabably.

OP posts:
Mehitabel6 · 29/10/2015 21:59

It sounds very sensible to me, if you can afford to I should think lots of people would like to do it and give them more time for other things.
I know a man who does it- gives him time for climbing and walking.

CuteAsaF0x · 29/10/2015 22:00

I agree with sGb .
I only work 20 hours a week. I get by. If I worked 40 hours a week I'd have no free time but I wouldn't get twice as much net pay, so I value the twenty hours more than I value another third as much money again. Especially as, if I were working more I know I'd be buying takeaways more frequently, sending laundry out more often. It becomes pointless.

mudandmayhem01 · 29/10/2015 22:20

I used to work 4 days a week before I had kids,more time for hobbies etc. Also it creates an employment opportunity for another worker. Employers get fantastic value out of part time workers, my teacher friend cut down to 2.5 days, she still works full time but half the week she works for no pay from home. It was the only way she could stay in teaching and stay sane as at least she has evenings and weekends free.