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 don't want to and it would make life harder if I did.

I don't know many families who both work part time by choice and earn enough to live comfortably but it would certainly be the best option imo

Because I went through 4 days of labour and a ruptured bladder to get them here. I wanted to spend as much time with them as I could.......not just when they were young. But during the crucial,.teenage years when our input really is needed. We made sacrifices to make that happen and I don't regret it for a moment.

I work three days a week:

a. Because I can do all the work I need to do for the days I am actually in work (marking, planning, completing online training, creating resources, writing reports, writing references etc) instead of trying to do it at the weekends or in the evenings
b. Because I want to

HTH, OP.

I worked 4 days a week for 10 years and it was the perfect work life balance. Back to full time now and it's slowly killing me.

I work part time because the cost of after school club every day and childcare 5 days a week in the school days would make no financial sense.

Simple really.

I have work full-time and part-time whilst being a mother. I worked full-time when the kids were small and then when I started making more money per hour I cut my hours so that my take-home salary hasn’t changed much but I now work 3.5 days a week.

as previous poster also said, it makes perfect sense that women work less than men. On average men do 16 hours of unpaid housework per week in the UK, women do 26 hours. Shame those 26 hours doesn’t do anything for our pensions.

*school holidays

I work all the hours the DC are at school and then I stop when they get home. That means I can take them to school, pick them up, take them to clubs or to the park and cook dinner - all of which I'd have to pay someone else to do if I was still at work. Does that answer your question?

I do agree with this but I also do believe there's no such thing as a work free life, for example, the only way that I would be able to give up work, is if someone else was working. The only way I would be able to go part time, is if someone else worked full time etc

Personally, I wouldn't like my OH to take on the burden of our finances by working part time. I went back FT after the kids went to school. If he wanted to go part time I am not sure how I'd feel about it tbh unless it was for health reasons - not just because he fancied having a couple of days off a week.

I’m guessing this is off the back of the other thread about the woman not wanting to return to full time work?
many reasons - I don’t want to, life is tight but I CAN afford not to, my kids get to do some stuff and don’t get to do others, logistically they’re in different schools in different locations with different availability for wrap around care which makes it harder.

main point here though is you say you know they can’t afford it because they say they can’t… but equally you’d complain if they said they could afford everything without question.

@Snoken

It doesn't make sense that we tolerate it.

I've said elsewhere both pt would be the dream imo. And no nerve, because we talk. He's been offered a chance to swap, I'll look for work and he can stay home with the kids, he said no. I offered before we had the twins too and he wasn't interested then either 😂. Just resent the insinuation that all partners are bitter about their lazy partners when that simply isn't the case.

Yes, I expect this is very true! I have a friend who has been resolutely PT for years, well before she had kids. She is also the kind of highly responsible and organised person that companies always want to promote, and those promotions are always turned down. She sometimes says to me - full-time wage slave - that perhaps she should up her hours and be more serious about work. Never has, though.

All of us fortunate enough to be able to choose whether we work FT or PT have to weigh up priorities and make sacrifices. Not surprising the decisions are different for different people.

Working part-time does create a better work-life balance for many families, but to then moan about being broke...I can see how that's irritating.

DH is full-time, I'm self-employed and currently do part-time hours as it does make our lives easier. But I don't moan to people about having less income.

I only work part time because I find full time SO dull. Now I know a lot of people have to work full time due to finances but I have the luxury of choice. Working part time means I get to do MORE with my life. I find the fact you’re a little puzzled by that very sad indeed. What are you going to do in retirement if work is all you essentially do?

I don't think mums are conditioned to think that don't you read the SAHM war threads on here?

BUT it's quite difficult as the mun to rub a household and work as well. Never mind if your a single parent also twice as hard.

I work part-time as I have a child with special needs. I have no access to childcare that can meet his needs outside school hours. Would love to work full-time.

@SleepingStandingUp

Would certainly be less hypocritical

I'm a part time teacher, I worked full-time before my kids were born, both my kids are now at school. Whilst working part-time, I can leave work at 4pm and pick my kids up from their clubs. On my days off I pick them up at 3pm. I can do a bit of work on my days off so that I keep up with the planning/marking etc and it's not overwhelming, I don't work during evenings and weekends. If I was to work full-time in the classroom, my kids would be in after-school club until it closed every day (6pm), and I'd probably still be working in the evenings and weekends a bit too. I know my friend who is a GP works part-time but for a similar reason, although it's more extreme for her. She works two days a week as a GP, but actually works a full 5 day week to get all the admin/referral work done (and we wonder what noone wants to be a GP). Some jobs just aren't sustainable as full time positions, as the workload is too high, so if people can do it, they work part-time.

@Realityloom

I agree it must be hard as a single parent but you've really just confirmed my point.

Why do 'mums' run the house?

It's sad that we're all conditioned to see both parents working full-time as normal. My husband gave up work altogether to look after our kids. Not that it works terribly well either as he's a grumpy twat to them.

Lol. You’d have a hernia if you met me. We don’t have children, and I am a full-time housewife. For a number of reasons I don’t feel the need to justify on here, including DH being relatively high earner and the fact I hated workplace politics / ridiculous HR policies when I did work.

We are both very happy with our lives.
You sound a little jealous. Start thinking about how you can make your life what you want it to be.

I was PT until DC 15, Loved it. Term time you get a few hours to do what you want - admin, sorting out house, exercise, or just do something you want to. Lots of things much quieter and cheaper done mid week. I had a fortnightly cleaner too.
They have loads of school holidays so you are quaranteed a day or two off with them each holiday week. In most workplaces you can't book leave every holiday.
Easier to book appointments for you and dc. My DC has a disability so had more hospital apts.
I was 4 days and now 5. It's negatively impacted my quality of life upping to ft.
How do you know no hobbies? I used to have a long countryside dog walk on a Weds was great for physical and mental health.