To wonder how many people would give up work if they had the choice?

[malificent7]

I would. I do enjoy being kept occupied...for example i love study and crafts but i find workplace politics make me very anxious and depressed...i just can't handle them.
My ideal "job" would be an artist but i need to pay bills.
Jobs don't make me happy but i would be less happy if hungry and% or homeless.
If i won the lottery i would start a busoness so i would still want an occupation but one that wasn't in a position where I dont have to deal with too much politics( pipe dream i know.)

Absolutely! Unless his are doing something that you enjoy immensely, perhaps something you would even choose to do as a hobby I’m pretty sure most would agree.

I’d give up work like a shot.
I was made redundant in 2010 and loved being at home for 3 months. Can’t say I felt bored at all.

No. I love working and would like to work until the end of my earthly life ..... if I can.

Absolutely. I hate working. Haven't found my dream job and have no idea where to look. The sooner my working life is over the better.

Trust me on this. The two most beautiful words in the English language are voluntary redundancy!

I pretty much don’t need to work, although it would mean relying largely on DH - maybe that doesn’t count. Like a pp, he’d like me to not work... I won’t entertain the thought. I like the teamwork, stimulation, challenge, sense of identity outside the house and housework, achievement.

I’ve recently come to realise that I view the financial compensation somewhat as a reflection of my worth. I do have a healthy sense of self esteem so I hope I would cope if I could no longer work due to circumstances, but I like feeling like I “contribute” to society and I like getting paid and therefore being “valued” for that contribution. I’m painfully aware that that is terrible reasoning - many people contribute without paid work, many don’t contribute in a conventional sense and that’s completely fine, and many people (as this pandemic has shown) are grossly underpaid. But, you asked a question and that’s my honest answer! I like working, even though it can be tough to juggle with family life. I’m reconsidering my job though, I definitely don’t contribute anything truly meaningful currently...! That needs to change.

@greythrow what do you do?

I'd give up my job in a heartbeat, then go and find a job I actually enjoyed. I suspect most would do the same.

I would quit without a backward glance.

I quite fancy myself as a hobby potter or dress maker. It is quite possible I’ve watched too much Sewing Bee and British Pot Off though

Nope, I wouldn't give up work. I had over a year off work due to chronic illness and it was bloody awful. Soul destroying. I love my job and I'm very lucky to work part time, locally, in a lower responsibility role with Jo childcare to pay for. I'm much happier working part time than being at home all week, bored, frustrated and with no identity as a person.

Don't we all just go to work so that we can afford to retire? I'm not even 40 but aware that if I don't make my own provision I'll be working til I'm 70 and my family don't traditionally live that long.

I'd give up work tomorrow if I could it's so stressful. Nothing like when I started work in the 1980s. I used to actually enjoy going to work then.

Now I never sleep well on a sunday night and if I've been on holiday or had a few days off.

I'd definitely give up work if I could.

I would give up work and replace it with voluntary work or a less senior role that is more valuable to the community. Perhaps I would do a few years as a magistrate, school governor or library volunteer.

I would give up my current career and retrain in the one i actually want to do but can't because it doesn't pay enough.

I am on furlough right now and doing an online history course and several fitness challenges as well as cooking and baking for my family, over seeing my teenage sons home learning and ferrying them around. But I know I would need gainful employment in the long run to keep my mind busy and for the social side of it, even if it was unpaid.

@NoMoreReluctantCustodians

I'd give up work tomorrow if I could it's so stressful. Nothing like when I started work in the 1980s. I used to actually enjoy going to work then.

Now I never sleep well on a sunday night and if I've been on holiday or had a few days off.

I agree with you! I remember being signed off sick for two weeks and I was more upset about that than the amount of pain I was in! I loved work! I loved working in education when I first started and for many years. These past few years have been a nightmare though. So far removed from education, so dishonest. I'd give up work like a shot. I already do quite a bit of volunteering, so would probably do more, and do more studying, which I love although I have mixed feelings about that knowing how crap the sector is.

See, I would, because my work kind of terrifies me as well as being frustrated sometimes. But I know I get a lot of validation and satisfaction from it, so I probably should carry on!

When I win the lottery I wont work again.

I would like to try writing a couple of books that I've been thinking about for years.
I've never told anyone that. I would love not to have to work so I could focus on that.

I would give up my job straightaway. I would prob do something unpaid for a few hours a week. I hate my job...well 80% of it and the long hours....am knackered on my days off. Need at least 3 off so I can recover on first day off and feel human on the others...does not happen often. I have just been told I have HTN and have other things going on too healthwise. Am reducing hours and we have gone through finances etc ..

For me it all depends on the amount of money I had. If I won the lottery I would stop working. If I had enough to scrape by, I would work. I want the finer things in life and they need paying for!

I love my job, it interests me greatly, I like my colleagues and clients, I often talk about it at home with DH (he's in a similar field) and I enjoy the routine and structure.

However, if I won big money I would give it up, put the kids in boarding school and take up travelling and hobbies.

I was forced to give up work due to illness and caring responsibilities. Then got married and became a traditional sahm. Now when I plan to go back part time it fills me with dread.
If I never had to work outside the home again then I wouldn't.

However, I will go back to work for 6 months full time next year, to qualify for a mortgage then I will go part time self employed after I've got the mortgage. I just need the full time income to jump through the banks affordability hoops. I can afford it on the part time income but they won't see it like that. It will be £300 per month.

Then I will go back to a combination of my caring role and part time self employment. The only way I will be able to work full time is because of a 6 month commitment from a family member to take on some of my caring responsibilities (and my youngest child turning 11 so she will be left alone sometimes, not wise but it's not forever. )

I am mortgage free currently but to move back closer to family I need to get a mortgage, unless magically prices stay the same or rise in my current area and simultaneously fall 20% in my old area. I can only dream.

[quote GrapefruitsAreNotTheOnlyFruit]@greythrow what do you do?[/quote]
I'm a midwife

Ordinarily, yes, as I hate open plan offices, but WFH I find far better and keeps me occupied during the week.