To ask why young people without children work part time?

[RosesinGranGransgarden]

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.

What do you define as 'young'? I'm in my 40s and financially don't need to work full time.

Or perhaps part time work is the only work these 'young people' can find.

Either way, mind your own. You remind me of some openly bitchy, jealous colleagues who hated that I worked part time and wanted to know why I did.

I worked PT in my late 20s and earnt more than I did working FT in my early 20s. No brainer. No, I didn't live with or sponge off parents. Moved out aged 18!

I was apprehensive when I started PT working because of the narrow minded viewpoints of other people. It felt odd to be working less hours at the start, felt like I didn't deserve to, so I topped up my PT hours with overtime because of feeling 'odd' then ended up working 7 days a week for a few months then reduced to 6 before burnout kicked in. Then cut back to 5 days a week before dropping to 4 and then 3 days! I still earnt more 3 days PT in my late 20s than 5 days FT in my early 20s, and no that wasn't due to career progression, 2 totally different careers.
I volunteered and learnt languages on my off days, I travelled lots and didn't need to request a week off here and there to do it which would have been a massive inconvenience to my employer had I been full time. I still managed to save a lot for the material things mentioned above, but that's not what everyone aspires to. The amount I saved enabled me to return to uni to retrain, pay for our wedding and skip the first rung of the housing ladder, all whilst continuing to volunteer.

I have worked both PT and FT in my 30s, my FT role even means I have often worked upwards of 50 hours a week despite no overtime pay. I'm not lazy, I am not afraid of breaking a sweat, I am lucky in that I have my health and have sought out opportunities to enrich my life. Life is for living, after all.

You can't just work part time and claim tax credits if you have no dependent children. You can get working tax credits if you are on a low income but if you have no dependent children you have to work at least 30 hours to qualify.

I used to use my own experience to teach them how to not waste their lives working in a shop and go look at graduate schemes (they never listened.)

Oh right, you're one of those know-it-all types that tries to tell everyone what they should be doing with their lives. You realise that your way of living isn't necessarily the right way don't you, and that people can make their own choices for their own lives?

Where I used to work they paid great lip service to the concept of flexible working but actually getting to work part time was more or less impossible unless you had young children or were senior and had clout. All posts were advertised as "full time but applications to work part time will be considered". And refused.

I think general attitudes have changed. More people want to have extra leisure time and less time with their noses to the grindstone.

I gloried in my first job (aged 13) and my spending power. In my twenties I did 65 hours a week and was often in the office until 7pm. In my 30s I worked abroad so Friday nights and Sundays were spent in airports.

The company I work for now, the office is empty by 5.15. Which is lovely as I'm late 50s and it helps me with school run but I know what you mean.

Maybe they are right to grab some fun while they can. They're going to have to work until their late 60s.

Because they are lazy and lacking in a decent work ethic.

You sound a bit naive.

All lot of young people have medical conditions, which results in frequent hospital appointments. Some may have mental health difficulties and cannot mentally cope working full time...

@buildingbridge a lot of young people? That seems like a wild generalisation? In the same way it is to say they are all lazy @icansmellburningleaves

and this too Because there's more to life than work.

Some people may not tell you their mental health conditions and would rather lie. I knew a married woman who worked part time because her husband was abusive and demanded her attention....

And you'll be surprised. It appears in the generation, quite a number of young people suffer form mental health difficulties and medical needs.

Reasons people I know do who are young and child-free do this:
-The job supplements their acting, crafting, or another creative but less stable income stream
-They are starting their own business
-They have a chronic illness and struggle to work full-time
-They have other caring responsibilities
-They have a rich spouse
-They have a significant passive income
-They do day trading
-They have 2 part-time jobs
-Their outgoings are low and they can live off a part-time salary
-They mostly live self-sufficiently but need some money to supplement that
-They are doing a part-time undergraduate or master degree or PhD

‘Why not work more hours?’
Why not pay more? Poverty wage jobs don’t deserve staff loyalty. My boss pays me the bare minimum he can legally get away with and makes us work gruelling shifts, in high temperatures. Then looks shocked when no one wants to do him favours.
I’m not young, but am childfree, employed part time. I hate selling my labour and thankfully don’t need to do it full time.

I used to work part time in my late 20s. In that instance it was because there were few fulltime jobs where I wanted to work. My contract had hours all over the place and included Saturdays, I did not even get the same day off each week. I did have a supply contract as well, and took as many extra hours as I could. I did take on full-time contracts when they came up. I was raised poor anyway, and was actually in work which at that time paid more than my parents had ever got paid. Even though I was earning more though, the house prices had already shot up and so my buying power was lower. I also watched my taxes being taken from me and being given to those both poorer and richer, while I was continually told I should just work harder in order to have more taken away. I did not actually believe that I would ever be in a position to buy, and the lack of material goods doesn't bother me as much as the damage the rich materialists have done and are doing to the planet. I had no wish to contribute more to a system which set me up as disadvantaged from birth, and was demanding more and more of us, taking more opportunities and chances away.

So there's a few reasons in there. Lack of work, difficulty of juggling extra jobs around the need to be always available and fully flexible for each employer. Environmental considerations. Resentment at the expectation that we should work harder and harder to get less and less reward. Part-time work was never so frowned upon in the past, and I am suspicious of the agendas of those who continually tell us we must work harder, work harder, be more productive. I am realising no benefit from it, why should I work ever harder to enrich these arseholes at the top who have higher status than me without needing to work for it?

I got an allotment instead and spent time learning how to grow things, as that is the only sphere of productivity where it really is true that the more effort you put in the more you get out. Everything else is lies and enrichment for the rich.

I don't know a single 20 ye old who works part time. Or maybe if they are a student but that's it. If they have money in the bank though, why not?

I’m a GP and when I was offered my first job as a GP, it was a part time post. I’d spent 9 years working in hospital jobs, 100 hour weeks, days and nights on call with no sleep for sometimes 48 hours.
With only myself to think of, I could afford to work part time and still pay my bills, so I jumped at the chance!
It still work “part time”, but it amounts to nearly 40 hours a week in modern General Practice.

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.

If they were doing further study with OU or p/t/evening somewhere would you really know? Some of DH mates worked part -time for money and rest on getting into area they wanted or setting up their own bussiness.

Temp job I had between Uni and Masters has merry go round of team leaders and managers though I was doing all hours offered I did have to ask for a day off. I had to explain why to get it approved and the manager was shocked I was graduating first degree - needed day for graduation ceremony - and would be off soon - only employed on temp contract for summer - to study further.

He never asked anything about me - so why he made assumptions .

@icansmellburningleaves

No, we are just more aware and smarter than people like you who believe that in order to live a successful and fulfilling life you must work every hour available.

These days people are much better off than they were so part time becomes possible . Or they live with parents. I was married with a baby at age 22 and working full time just to pay for housing and our full time childcare costs - the latter took 50% of each of our full time salaries in year 1 in 1983 ( trainee lawyer and head of dept teacher)

Disability? Outside training and learning, other careers they're trying to move forward in? Parents or siblings who require support.

Or even people who just dont want their lives to be all about work.

In one workplace, many of the higher ups only ever worked 4 days a week if that. They earned a decent wage and just said money isnt everything, I'd rather be able to be a bit flexible with my work life so my life outside of work doesnt suffer.

Pretty cool way of doing things, but sadly they didnt ensure that work was continuing as it should with only 20% of upper management ever at work!

@PeanutButterSarnie

We were moulded and shaped by the generations prior to us and their actions, your generation, you absolute doughnut.

Reasons I might work:

1. Need the money
2. Want to progress in the sector
3. Really enjoy the job

If none of those apply, I wouldn't be working at any age. If 2 & 3 didn't apply and I could fulfil 1 by working pt rather than ft, I would. I wouldn't bother with earning more money than I need.

I worked part time for a long time. I did it alongside my own business, because it didn't make enough money on it's own. I can imagine some employers might not take too kindly to staff having their own business whilst also working for them, so maybe they keep that quiet? My employers all knew and were supportive, but doesn't mean all might be. I'm mid 30's, no kids.

Ironically I eventually quit to run my business full time, then Covid hit and took all the wind out my sails, because I used to photograph weddings. Now I'm back looking for a part time job!

I'm disabled and I'd rather enjoy at least one day off a week instead of spending all my time off catching up on sleep/rest.

Plus, I can afford to.

We were moulded and shaped by the generations prior to us and their actions, your generation, you absolute doughnut.

That's put it rather more succinctly than my long-winded post. Work does not pay the way it used to. It all goes to landlords. What's the point?? Answer that, give me a reason.