To wonder why some people don't work full-time?

[donniedarko89]

I was part-time myself while DD was very young as I wanted to spend time with her. I know many mums however who have stayed part time even after the kids go to school. They only work 2 or 3 days a week. The thing is, they're not loaded, on the contrary they keep complaining that finances are tight and they can't afford stuff - then why not increase your work days (they could all easily do it)? Some of them even have a cleaner. No hobbies on the side either. It genuinely puzzles me!

I just wish I could afford to work part time!
i can barely afford to work full time plus bank shifts.

I work part time because there is much more to life than work! Some people would rather have less money and more life enjoyment.

Because it suits our family life for me to work part time.

Because I want to do as many school runs as I can (husband does some, we also use after school club).

Because a day off in the week gives me a chance to exercise, do the food shop, meet with friends, rest, run errands which means there is less to do at the weekend.

Because my son has after school activities that we need to take him to.

Because working part time gives me flexibility to move my hours around in case something comes up (school activity, appt, etc.).

We can afford for me to work part time, so what’s the point of running ourselves into the ground if I worked full time?

Is that enough reasons for you? 🤦‍♀️

Of course you did. You just wanted to have a pile on about lazy women who don't work full time and how special full timers are. Just didn't go the way you hoped?...

People moaning about finances if it is not an issue are bloody annoying.

Kids is school does not always allow for a full time job. There are kids holidays to think of which can be very expensive to cover childcare. After school and breakfast club are not always an option. As might be full or find that putting multiple children in it means you make no money so might as well not work. Also it can be very tiring for children to do such a long day. That's forgetting about wanting to spend time with their children. The job they have might not have a need for full time worker. Getting everything done at home with 2 full time works can be very hard and might not make sense for their family. I could keep going with reason.

I suppose it depends how you define ‘putting under loads of stress’, doesn’t it? The majority of people I know who work part-time are also largely (if not solely) responsible for things like:

-getting children to school, as well as all school ‘admin’ (yellow day, harvest festival collection etc).
-arranging any wrap-around care, holiday clubs etc.
-they’re often the default parent when it comes to covering child sick days/ early collections for sickness.
-arranging and taking children to extra-curricular clubs, play dates, parties etc.

-the lions share of housework, shopping, cooking etc

So whilst the person employed full time may feel additional stress in some areas (financially providing etc), other areas of stress are removed (can they get the kids to breakfast club before work starts? The childminder is sick and they have meeting. what’s for tea every night), as these are often (usually) taken over by the person working part time.

Because for many work simply sucks.

And I’d say, as I said on the other thread, that couples are teams who work together to make life work. There’s more to that than finances and couples that work well aren’t counting every little penny contributed snd every load of washing up done. They find broad ways to make life work.

In couple where one works part time, the other usually acknowledges the gains they get from that - might be more flexibility to pursue their own career, and less home stuff to have to think about which might interrupt their ability to be flexible at work. Lots of people value this hugely and miss that if their other half works full time, meaning both have to take time off for sick kids, be there to do pick-ups from childcare etc, struggle to do overnight work trips. Home life just often runs smoother when one person doesn’t work full time….and people like that smoothness and are willing to sacrifice some cash for it. And of course lots of people are simply happier working less.

Moaning about not having enough cash is commonplace amongst full and party time workers. If you can afford to live with one or both people being part time, then why not. Life is short and few of any regret not working more on their death beds.

@Goosygandy That is such a nasty comment.

Crikey. You'd hate me, I have two school age children and I don't have a job - before anyone judges both my kids have sen and mt partner works.

Yes YABU. Obviously.

I have 2 young primary age children. I worked full time (and often with an extra job) from leaving school til having dc1. Went part time. Have had to stay part time as I am now single, and do all the school runs . They are with me 24/7. Apart from a few hours 1 day a week. I live rurally, there's no breakfast or afterrschool club. No childminders to pick up . No way of working extra hours (believe me I've tried every way you could think of)

The saving grace is my job is relatively well paid

I work full-time, we need the money. It is as simple as that. If you can manage with less money, work part time, but dont moan about your choices.

Then he wouldn’t have been complaining about lack of money, caused by working part time, to other parents at the school gates, eh? So his situation has nothing to do with what the OP actually asked.

Actually the three parents I work with who ‘only’ work part time as they ‘claim’ that their top up benefits make up the rest of what they’d get working full time.

It's probably not that your question offends people, it's that they suspect it's disingenuous. Fake puzzlement. There are so many threads on MN where a wide-eyed 'But I just don't understand why people do x, y or z!' really means 'Let's have a thread where we judge people for doing x, y or z'.

There are many, many life decisions that have downsides (in this case less income) as well as upsides. Presumably for those people the upsides outweigh the downsides. There's no law against still having a bit of a whinge about the downsides.

I'd rather have less money and more time with my DC.

I work 3.5 days as it gives me balance. As a teacher I have loads to do at home so I can do it on my days off and it's given me my weekends back.

It also means that I have more sex with DH as he works shifts so it lets us have day time shenanigans 🤣

I have a primary aged child and don't work. We can afford for me not to. It also means that things tick along nicely at home, childcare isn't an issue, we get lots of family time and it all balances out. I think it isnt anyone's business.

Less money is a nice choice to have.

I went part time termtime when my DC were small. They're early 20s bits I've only just gone back to working full year. Still part-time though, 4 days a week. I've got used to not working Mondays, and I'm lucky enough to not have to. Works for me.

My part time work is every week day but mostly in school hours. No wraparound a care available so what else could we do? Leave her at school and hope for the best? DH uses flexi time to help and actually I don't have all the free time you seem to imagine, but I am lucky enough to see extra of my little girl. We all just have to do what we can do.

I’ve worked part time just twice in my life: for an extended period whilst I had a child under the age of 3; and when my mum was unwell and showing signs of dementia and I realised that as both an only child and a single mum, something was going to have to give.

I also recognise that it is not my buisness what choices other people may make for both themselves and their families.

My children have SEN that I find hard to manage and life for our family runs smoothly if I don't work/work pt only.

"work 30 hours because it gives me a really good quality of life. I get to stay on top of all the domestic stuff, have a bit of time to myself or to lunch with friends, and spend the weekend with DS because I'm not frantically trying to do all the stuff I couldn't get done during the week.

I highly recommend it."

I second this. I have two young children but even when they're older, if I can afford to stay at 30h/wk I will. My parents both died in their early 70s and suffered poor health from their mid 60s. If I knock my pan in spending the majority of my waking hours (and, this far north, almost all of the good daylight hours for 4-5 months of the year) working for somebody else, and then get diagnosed with a terminal illness the day after I retire, I will be RAGING.