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 work 4 days a week because I am a full time carer to my child who has multiple health issues. I work from home so I don't hear the ignorant comments from stupid idiots who are puzzled about why I work a 4 day week.

I worked part time for years because;

I could afford it

I was studying

The industry I was in paid fairly well and I lived in a shithole a very cheap house so two or three days a week was enough to live on

I work p/t because i'm 55 and my back is shot from many years working with youngsters with disabilities... I've been hit, bitten kicked, I have to do a lot of manual handling... and it's knackering! I also care for my Grandson several days a week and I have a still dependent adult son with autism.
Yes I'd like more money... but you know what, if P/T helps and stops me from being completely out of action, I'll take it.
Oh and on the rare completely free day... I walk the dog, clean up, practise the piano and enjoy it!!!!!!! It makes hell of a difference to my outlook on life

I work part time so I don't have to pay childcare. It would cost me more in childcare than I'd earn if I worked full time.
The extra benefit for me is being able to move my hours later in the day or work the hours back if I have childcare issues. It's one of the biggest reasons keeping me there. Plus my manager is superb.

I went part time when I returned after maternity leave. As long as I can manage it, I shall never go back full time. I love having a day to do my own thing whilst DC is at school.

Because they have only been offered part time hours

Hit submit too soon
My reasons are that we can afford to and both of us working in relatively senior level jobs full time was utterly draining. I find concentrating on really hard work for long hours, and dealing with people utterly exhausting, and really struggle alongside being there for my kids. I had a traumatic event a few years ago and it made me realise I wanted a better balance, and that I wanted to give that to our family.
On my non working days I batch cook and tidy/clean, do life admin, volunteer, pick up my younger child from school, go to school events... I also exercise and take time for myself. In some ways (and I know this is being said from a fairly privileged position) we are not financially that much worse off as I have the headspace to shop more cheaply and cook from scratch. We do have a cleaner as well.
We are lucky that we can afford it and that I can do a relatively senior job as a jobshare position, and hopefully it will stand me in good stead if I do pick up hours again in future. The one thing I miss is full time pay! So I probably will go through the cycle again of more hours at some point, then remember why I find it so gruelling and horrid!

It depends on the job a bit - how easy it is to add in hours and what impact that has on other things. So if you wfh then doing a few more hours is probably no great shakes, but if you have to commute, pay for parking, work shifts etc then all extra time at work comes with cost and inconvenience attached too.

So much is reliant on having help or support available. When we lived v rurally I couldn't work outside of school hours as there was absolutely no one to do drop off or pick up. It's surely not that hard to realise many people have financial and logistical barriers to work?

Quite aside from all that, if I didn't have to I wouldn't. I like to see friends, give the dogs longer walks (coming into winter it's sad to think most walks will be in the dark as I'm at work when it's light), read, keep up with the news, cook properly from scratch and keep the house nice for the DC to come home to. All seems a bit beyond me when working ft. I'd like to be engaged with the DC schools and to attend events and performances whenever they're on. I'd like the DC to come home to someone and to be able to keep them home of they're poorly without feeling terrible about work.

There is so much life admin - vets, dentist, optician, GP, picking meds up from pharmacy - all easier and doable of you're not at work ft.

Things like sports clubs and brownies etc start at 4.30/5 and dc have to miss out if both parents are ft.

I can't believe you can't work this out tbh. Is your life experience that narrow?

maybe parents want to actually see their children for more than a few hours everyday, and childcare is very expensive unless you have family willing to step in to help

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.

I don't think there's bitterness when children are young, there's lots of life admin and running around to do. I think it can creep in when it's gone on for 20-30 years and the children are long gone and 1 half of the marriage is having a lovely relaxing time and the other has worked full time their whole adult life and supported the other and will also have to do it through retirement as well as they don't have sufficient pension support etc.

I also agree that full time working does not necessarily equal no quality of life / no enjoyment etc.

The main reason I worked part time when my DC were at primary was because I wanted to be able to pick them up from school some days. If we'd both worked full time, the kids would have been in wrap around care from 8am to 6pm five days a week, which is a lot IMO.

Don't you think people who work full time want to see their children? It's not usually a choice to have to work for anyone!

Tbf, I don't think the OP is criticizing people who work part-time, I think she's frustrated that they then moan about tight finances.

depends on the job. My job is shift work. Part time is fine. full time however working 1-9s, then the next day starting at 7 and doing sleeps ( away from home for 24 hours) would just be too much. also the potential of having to work 9/10 days in a row to get a weekend off... I would love to work an extra day but just not possible in this job.

I was “part time” as a hospital doctor. That was 40 hours a week. And I was a widowed single mother of two DDs.
I couldn’t work “full time” because that was 60 hours, including nights and weekends and I had no overnight childcare. Does that help explain it, OP?

I'm going to stay working part time because it's brilliant and I hate working all week long 😜

There is so much to do that managing childcare, household and life is very demanding these days. Some people do not get paid enough to outsource everything, so they choose to work part time so it gets done.

Of course the cost of living crisis is affecting everyone, so they are well within their rights to feel fed up that things are now financially more demanding. Working full time may still not be worth it or even possible.

Yes he is a high earner so we would be very comfortable if he worked full time but this type of work would be really stressful for us so we are so we’re grateful he can earn and still earn well. We don’t have an expensive lifestyle it’s the usual mortgage that is the big one. We eat well and can have the heating on, kids dressed in high street with the odd brand if deemed good quality but we are still mindful. I got lucky with the company I work for they seem to pay reasonably well but they could go bust tomorrow as normally in my line of work the pay isn’t great. So again, we are good for now.

Obviously not going to read the whole thread but I do zero paid work😃 living the life I’ve always dreamed of at the moment, quite frankly! My time is my own and I can do whatever I want with it. Do have a 6 month old now but before that I had 2 whole child free days to myself while DS was in nursery and it was amazing. I’m not sat at home worrying about and wondering why other women work once they’ve had kids (as I can name about 50 reasons why one would), so dont spend your time wondering about me!

Some companies especially in retail only employ part time staff. This is because they don't have to pay towards pension, sick pay or holiday pay. It'squite hard to find another job to fit around the days and hours you already do. Then they expect you to be available for overtime.

My ds is at uni now and I still work part-time because I don't need to work full-time, I don't have a mortgage so I don't need the money.

Because every single second of my days at work, or at home when the family were there was totally taken over by other people’s needs. The only way to be able to have any time that I called all the shots (including when and how much I sleep) was to have time not working when they were not home. Often I did chores, errands or batch cooked and stuff that made time with them less harassed, but I chose what, when and how and didn’t get interrupted. I get interrupted about 14 times an hour otherwise. I’m not good with distractions, and I just couldn’t get anything done!

At 12 my daughter is only just starting to sleep through the night on the regular. I don’t know it’s even possible to come back from that level of sleep deprivation. And after my husband died, I’m filling three roles at home and working too. It’s really full on, and I really value my days of peaceful working through my list with no distractions. The breathers make it possible to cope with the frenetic pace the rest of the time, and were the only time I could socialise or do anything not child friendly when she was smaller, as I’ve no casual childcare at all. I think those days possibly saved my actual life, and certainly my sanity.

I’m sure it’s different for others. I did work full time until she was five, and it was HARD. I like me better when I’m not absolutely maxed out.

I used to work full time from being a teen up to and including when my kids were babies and toddlers.... Now I don't work because I have to my prioritise my health and thus being able to look after my children. I am not prepared to lose my health and impact their life for the sake of being a good little worker bee.

Absolutely agree. They will hire another you tomorrow it's as simple as that!

Some people can't afford to because childcare is too expensive.

Some can't get the hours thanks to zero hours contracts.

Alot of employers don't hire people full time and it's hard to juggle 2 PT jobs.