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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask why young people without children work part time?

666 replies

RosesinGranGransgarden · 20/06/2020 10:28

Going to get flamed for this but here goes!

In every single job I've been in I've worked with people younger than me who work part time hours. I can't quite get my head around it.
In my previous job I was a retail manager. Most of the staff were young, 20-30, none had kids apart from me and one other lady. We used to have a sheet of overtime shifts up and I used to have to beg staff to work it. These are young people, not studying, none with disabilities that they disclosed to me, most were renting/ house sharing. I never understood why they didn't want to work more hours, get more money for house deposits, travelling etc.
Another job I was an admin assistant and two or three of the other admin were young women, married with no children, who worked three or four days a week. Why?! Even if their husbands earned enough to support them, shouldn't they have worked to save for maternity leave, holidays, nice car etc.
I know money doesn't motivate a lot of people but as a young, childfree person, I would have never thought to apply for a part time job, unless I could be assured there was overtime. If not for financial reasons then just out of boredom, as all my friends would have been working full time.
Currently I work 32 hours due to no afterschool club, my colleague works the same hours. She said to me yesterday she wants to drop a day as she's exhausted. She's 28?! We work in an office together. She moans about not being a homeowner, why not work more hours?
Sorry rant over.

OP posts:
Deelish75 · 20/06/2020 14:31

The job I had before I had DS (nanny) was four days a week. I worked Mon - Thurs 8 - 6. Sometimes I babysat of an evening til quite late and would be back in work normal time the next morning. Loved having Fridays off, I would still get up early, I'd go for a swim, then do the grocery shopping and then I'd have the afternoons to do other shopping/get hair done/run errands or sometimes chill out at home catching up on tv.

Graphista · 20/06/2020 14:33

Yet another “I don’t understand” thread - when actually the op means

i don’t approve but I haven’t the guts to say so

none with disabilities that they disclosed to me - unless they needed adjustments made why would they?

There’s any number of reasons why people may need to or choose to work part time even at this age:

They have caring responsibilities - I know several who provide care for elderly or disabled relatives, they may not be the main carer but the care they provide might give the main carer a break. That’s happened in my family we’ve had rotas for caring for elderly or disabled relatives. One might be the main carer but we recognised it was unfair to pile it ALL on them, they need a break too.

They might have a condition themselves that doesn’t require the employer to know necessarily (and frankly with the level of disability discrimination around I don’t blame them for not disclosing. My own dd has a disability but she’s already - she’s 19 - learnt the hard way that she’s better not mentioning it until she’s worked somewhere a while and even then only if she needs adjustments made). At one point before dd was born I’d been very ill for a time a condition that caused serious fatigue for long after the illness was supposedly over. I worked part time for 18 months until I was back to full strength. None of my colleagues or employers knew that was why I had chosen a part time position.

They might be ill and not yet have a diagnosis which employers are especially bad at dealing with in my and many others’ experience!

If the condition requires regular medical appointments then working part time allows people to manage this. The vast majority of these type of appointments are still only available in “office hours” mon-fri 9-5.

They might be keeping time free to seek better employment. Especially if they’re a recent school/uni leaver. I’ve done this in the past, taken a part time job to tide me over until I can find a preferable full time position. It eliminates/reduces the need to take sickies to attend interviews.

They might do voluntary work in an area they want to work in but as yet can’t get paid employment in as they haven’t enough experience yet. It’s really difficult for youngsters to get experience in certain industries and voluntary work is a way around that.

They might be studying and just not telling you! They’re not required to if it doesn’t impact work, they might be doing open uni or similar.

It might be because that’s the only job they could get! There aren’t a lot of jobs around at the moment and will be even less when the economic hit of Coronavirus hits! Not all youngsters were able to do well at school, they may not have enough/good quality work experience to get a full time role as yet. When dd was job hunting a few years back it was crazily competitive! In some cases almost a 1000 applicants per vacancy, certainly in the hundreds for most.

As a pp said it suits many employers to have eg 3 part timers v 1 full timer because they have much less responsibility and liability for them as part timers have fewer rights - morally wrong imo but it allows employers to not pay or pay much less sick pay, maternity pay, redundancy payment if it becomes necessary, lower NI employer contributions...

If the work is poorly paid and they’re only working a few days a week it might be because if they worked full time the transport costs (especially if anti social hours involved) Make it not worth their while to work full time. Another time in my 20’s I had a part time “regular” job but in a difficult to get to area which I could get lifts (I paid toward petrol) on certain days but not others, on the days I wasn’t working in that job I would fit in babysitting/nannying, dog walking etc and make money that way.

They might be sorting out setting up their own business - there’s a lot of prep before you get started for some of these.

Tax/benefits cut offs might mean if they worked more hours they might not only NOT be better off they might actually be worse off! That’s not their fault that’s the govts!

You sound like a tiresome busy body who thinks they know what’s best for everyone else...while not being especially successful or happy themselves!

I hold 2 degrees, have postgraduate and other qualifications and a wealth of experience in a variety of industries. I’ve worked nmw jobs and senior professional roles and quite honestly the jobs I was HAPPIEST in were the nmw ones!

The colleagues were fun and friendly and there wasn’t the bitching and backstabbing there was in the more senior roles, the work was varied and interesting, but largely non stressful and when I finished work for the day I was done! No emails or phone calls pestering for answers to queries or asking me to do overtime I didn’t want to!

Nothing wrong with working in a shop, my mums mainly worked retail until she retired, I’ve worked several retail jobs and thoroughly enjoyed them, I’ve several friends and family who work in retail. Some are happy to stay at “shop floor” level, some are more ambitious and are working their way up the company they work for - it’s possibly to reach quite senior positions having started on the “shop floor” in retail! My mum started as a part time cashier back in the 70’s by the time she retired she was regional security advisor.

Oh and BTW postcolonial literature is ALSO an arts degree!

And now you claim to work in mh? I call bullshit! Very odd thread

StarUtopia · 20/06/2020 14:35

I did have a lovely lady who worked for me who refused to up her hours- because the increase in salary didn't match her tax credits.

There you go. Unpopular story - but it is actually true.

If you're on a low wage it can get topped up. Often the top up is worth more and then you're on good money without having to work. Not rocket science.

And before anyone has a pop - about 10 yrs ago DH was in a minimum wage job (due to circumstances) His wage was topped up by tax credits. He took home more then that he does now in a professional job. Fact. Again, not opinion. Fact. We would have been much better off him staying in his low wage job.

If you're on a low income (which if you're not working full time you will be) you are entitled to benefits. 100% guarantee it will be to do with this (being paid and STILL having free time)

www.litrg.org.uk/tax-guides/tax-credits-and-benefits/tax-credits/how-do-i-calculate-tax-credits

LellyMcKelly · 20/06/2020 14:37

One of my DD’s friends was part time because it meant he could do the 26 hours a week training he needed to do to compete in the World Acro Gymnastics Championships as a member of Team GB. He was insanely talented. Just because someone isn’t doing paid work doesn’t mean they’re not doing something amazing.

Oneliner · 20/06/2020 14:38

Entitled, work shy, millennials. It's not their fault mind, they're a product of social media.

fascinated · 20/06/2020 14:40

Almost everyone I saw as a CAB advisor deliberately worked low hours to ensure max top up benefits.

milveycrohn · 20/06/2020 14:40

Yet, the young man I used to work with had three jobs!!
He was saving to buy his own house, and consequently worked some evenings and weekends somewhere else, as well as full time for the same company as me.

ErickBroch · 20/06/2020 14:40

Maybe they hate the job. Maybe they have reasons they don't want to tell you. Personally, I am mid 20s and don't know anyone my age without kids who works part-time so you're coming from a very limited pool.

LondonCaIIing · 20/06/2020 14:40

Ive seen a number of posts on MN recently where people are apparently "baffled" that others make different life choices to them and it bemuses me.

Same. I mean FFS it's not complicated to understand, is it? If they don't NEED to work 40 hours then why would they?

What a pointless thread.

iolaus · 20/06/2020 14:40

Locally there don't seem to be many jobs advertised full time to start - so many young people have a part time contract - some will have two part time jobs others will do more hours when they can

Sometimes with these 'overtime' shifts it can sometimes be not as lucrative as you think - especially when you have a short extra shift - by the time you pay to get there for a 2-3hour shift, so they may turn it down whereas they would do a longer shift

PeanutButterSarnie · 20/06/2020 14:43

Because, while young people liked to complain that my generation and that of my parents has screwed them over, they are not all that keen to break a sweat. They have been moulded and shaped by a woolly, Liberal educational and media establishment that has inculcated in them, above all, a sense of entitlement.

I'll get my coat...

BarbedBloom · 20/06/2020 14:44

I am part time now due to my RA but I did work part time in my 20s for a while too. I was studying but I found after working things out I wasn't actually losing that much money to drop a day. When I calculated time vs a hundred pounds or so a month, time won.

I don't drive and am not that fussed about holidays. I didn't socialise much as am an introvert and hated pubs and clubs. I always had enough money to pay my bills and save a bit. We aren't having children so have more disposable income.

Many people now just work to live and I have noticed a real shift in attitude since lockdown. A lot of my friends are now reconsidering whether they need so much stuff and whether instead they would rather the time.

kojolo · 20/06/2020 14:45

I work three days a week. I've got plenty to do in my life outside of my salaried employment and work tires me out. I'm much happier working part time and turn down jobs that won't let me do this. You only get one life, after all.

I can pay my bills. I am as productive as the full timers. Seems like a win win to me.

And seems odd to me that you are bothered!

WhatCFeryIsThis · 20/06/2020 14:45

I find OPs question very interesting, because I would look at her and others in similar job roles and wonder why you'd be happy spending the rest of your life clocking in and out of a job in which you have no autonomy. Even a retail store manager answers to dozens of other higher ups. I doubt the owner of that retail store got there by working full time for the whole of their twenties at somebody else's retail store.

Some people have very different ambitions to others 🤷‍♀️

JessicaFletcherColumbo · 20/06/2020 14:46

I dont know if its still the same with the new benefits system but I used to work with several people who worked only 16 hours pw to be able to claim some sort of benefits and were very open about it.

IntermittentParps · 20/06/2020 14:46

I think the OP has chips on her shoulder about people being middle-class; having humanities or art degrees; having family help with rent; not listening when she tries in her infinite wisdom and grace 'to teach them how to not waste their lives working in a shop and go look at graduate schemes' Grin

AveAtqueVale · 20/06/2020 14:48

I currently work part time due to DC but would never work full-time by choice. And I'm in a fulfilling professional career that gives me a lot of satisfaction. But although I love it, it's just not all I want to do with my life, and I'm lucky in that working 3 days gives me enough money to allow me to do other things. I genuinely can't imagine being bored on days off. I've got literally hundreds of books I want to read, a cupboard full of craft projects to finish, a list of DIY and decorating things I want to do in the house, a garden to take care of, a cat to play with, languages I'd like to improve, lots of series I'd like to watch on Netflix and musical instruments to play, not to mention all the normal life admin and cleaning and housekeeping. And if by some chance I got all of that done and found myself at a complete loose end, I could volunteer, join a gym, go walking, go cycling, go swimming, visit museums and art galleries, go to the cinema, explore local landmarks and history

Guineverez · 20/06/2020 14:49

I don't understand the competitive misery, "I had to work 26 hours a day and pay them for the trouble" it's ridiculous. People have different priorities, different health, different opportunities.

I see so many people working themselves into the ground, they might have the nice house, cars and holidays but they are constantly complaining about it and chasing the next thing.

AveAtqueVale · 20/06/2020 14:50

I posted before I finished but you get the gist - unless I needed the money or the experience, taking on an extra day's work or doing overtime shifts would come at the bottom of a very long list of other stuff I could be doing with my one and only life 🤷🏻‍♀️.

LondonCaIIing · 20/06/2020 14:51

These are young people, not studying, none with disabilities that they disclosed to me, most were renting/ house sharing. I never understood why they didn't want to work more hours, get more money for house deposits, travelling etc.

I can't understand why you didn't work 80 hours a week when you were young and child-free? I mean, you could have saved way more money for house deposits, travelling etc. if you'd had two jobs. Oh I just can't understand it

HalfTermHalfTerm · 20/06/2020 14:52

Lots of things are free or don't cost anything much after an initial investment. It may be that they're not things you would want to do, but they exist and some people like them. So for example it's possible to study a virtually infinite number of subjects you're interested in for the price of an internet connection and device.

I can’t think of many free things to do that would fill 4 or 5 days a week every week, but then I live half an hour by train or car (which would cost money) from the nearest city so that will have something to do with it! I think there’s a big difference between doing free/simple things (studying online, going for walks, watching films on Netflix) through choice, and feeling forced to because you can’t afford to do anything else.

I can’t afford to work less than 5 days a week, so it’s not much of an issue for me Blush

vanillandhoney · 20/06/2020 14:54

@PeanutButterSarnie

Because, while young people liked to complain that my generation and that of my parents has screwed them over, they are not all that keen to break a sweat. They have been moulded and shaped by a woolly, Liberal educational and media establishment that has inculcated in them, above all, a sense of entitlement.

I'll get my coat...

If you truly believe that, then surely it's your generation's fault for not instilling "good work ethic" instead of a "sense of entitlement". Hmm
Wrongdissection · 20/06/2020 15:01

‘If you're on a low income (which if you're not working full time you will be) you are entitled to benefits. 100% guarantee it will be to do with this (being paid and STILL having free time)’

Er. Nope.

Waxonwaxoff0 · 20/06/2020 15:03

@JessicaFletcherColumbo you can only do that if you have dependent children. You can't choose to do it if you have no kids and just fancy working less hours.

Thisismytimetoshine · 20/06/2020 15:04

I've never claimed fucking benefits in my life Hmm

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