Fascinating discussion at my team meeting yesterday. My work has many employees who are the breadwinners and/or sole parents. Some of us work full time (there or between a couple jobs) and hope for long term security, despite it being far far harder now. Many work part time hours, earning 1/3 to 1/2 of what they could - and instead of bringing home £30k plus are on a fraction of that - but want to be home more often, have a simpler life etc.
The latter group interestingly often have life circumstances that allow for that - house in divorce, inheritance, bought when market lower, etc. Those of us that work full time don't necessarily have nicer things tbh, in fact we are often in smaller houses we paid 3x as much for because it took us longer to save for deposit. But we have the potential, once our costs are reduced (childcare etc.) to save more than our lower income colleagues, and once mortgage reduced then obviously much more to save if you are earning £32k compared to £16k. Also more chance of promotion etc.
One part time colleague said the virus made her realize it was ridiculous her dc were in school full time and she was only working 2 days/week and plans to find a way to get back to full time so they have more security. A full time colleague said the opposite, it made her realize she wants to downsize, reduce hours, move to a cheaper area and live a better quality of life. A big fear the full timers felt is that benefits/supports won't cover our expenses (b/c our houses had much higher mortgages) if we lost jobs, so some said they felt very trapped to keep going and saving for a rainy day. But many speaking about whether they made the right choice.
Are you a full timer or part timer and do you have regrets? Does the virus/life make you think you should either work more for more financial security, or work less to have a simpler life with less expenditures?
I'm definitely in the full time category (though more than one job) and between house (small terrace, but expensive area) and child with SEN I can't see I could reduce that. But if I was willing to do something drastic I probably could. Though we rely on major city hospitals so I'm not sure really. Nice to dream though. Both my closest friends work only 2 days/week making themselves low income after having children, but have mortgages under £250/month and free childcare. Very different options. One is happy, one post divorce despite being able to cover all outgoings is thinking of increasing hours so she can save more especially since this virus hit.
Would love to know what others think?