To change jobs and take a pay cut

[GreenVia]

I'm after some advice as struggling to make a decision.

I have a good job that pays ok - circa 50k plus bonus and I'm considering a move to a public sector role which would mean circa 10k pay cut (and no bonus).

I'm struggling with pressure and workload in my current job. Managers are not supportive (and also struggling). Work life balance is very poor and I frequently lose sleep at night due to stress. I have a school age child and it's affecting family life.

On the other hand there is an interesting job in the public sector with tones of flexibility, holidays, flexi time(15 days) and working from home if you want..in my current place I'm allowed to WFH 2 days per week but they are trying to make it 1..without a specific reason, just because it's that kind of a culture..

My fear is that I will take this paycut and never earn well again..I'm also feeling guilty as we won't be able to overpay on the mortgage the way we are currently BUT I will be able to be a better mother and my child won't be small forever..I'm mid 30s..my DH is supportive of the move as he knows how much pressure I'm under..

AIBU to take such a big paycut?

I did and it worked out great. I actually only did the lower paid job for six months and then it led to another move to my dream job that was paid better again. Overpaying your mortgage doesn’t seem a good trade off for feeling really unhappy in your day to day job. So long as you can afford to live and still have a few treats here and there, I would take the lower paid role in a heartbeat because being happy at work makes your whole existence better.

Based on what you’ve said, I’ll definitely change jobs.
From what I can gather, it does not sound like you need the money to live on day to day, it’s to over pay the mortgage.
Life is too short to be constantly stressed.

It sounds like you should, however a tale of caution...i did just what you are thinking of doing , left my well paid private sector job due to an awful life/work balance and so much stress, to a very interesting lesser paid role in the public sector with amazing holidays and so much flexibility and flexi days etc. However due to public sector budgets being so poor so not enough staff or resources my workload is huge and my job is still stressful! It's not as stressful as my prior role and I do get all these holidays but my work suffers when I take them.

Public sector doesn't always mean better.
Good luck with your decision!

Are you currently paying into a pension? If so, you might find the council pays more into it and your contribution to be less, making your net income not so much less than you think.

It seems sensible.

Why wouldn’t you be able to rebuild your career from this new role?

DP was in a similar position to you OP, he took a salary drop of about £12k a year 3 months ago and is much happier for it (aside from having to adjust to not just buying anything he wants whenever he wants it!)

I’ve considered very similar to you, but the difference is I have teen SDCs rather than small children (so I’m going to continue slogging it out). My friends in the same line of work as me who are in the public sector have a much better work/life balance. Your concern that once you go public sector, you’ll never leave… a very fair concern, but demands on both life and our expertise change. A small DC, supportive DH and sufficient income to be overpaying a mortgage currently sound like the move might well be suited to you.
Make sure you and your DH discuss how an increasing gap in your earnings may work.