To keep working part time

[Alittlenonsensenowandthen]

I'm having an end of year ponder about life/work etc and thought I'd ask the internet its thoughts!

I currently work self employed part time and get roughly £22-25k for about 16.5hrs a week. My hourly rate is good but my available working working hours are limited so I'm at my maximum annual salary.

So...here's the dilemma...in a few years when my kids are grown and flown do I try and get a 'normal' job.

Advantages would be employee interaction, potential to earn more, pension (I do pay into a self employed one but it's feeble), sick pay/holiday pay and not having to take the burden of running my own business.

However my field is in education so unless I retrain I'd be limited in what job I could do. If I got into a school via a pgce (I don't have one) I'd probably start off on not dissimilar salary for more stress and more hours. and the reality is, I do like my current field of work.

So wise mumsnetters would you
A) stay in a capped salary profession but enjoy the freedom of working part time and accept a lower disposable income. (Aibu)
B) consider retraining or looking to another career path with better prospects to give me security later in life. (Ianbu)

Can you do school holiday tutoring “clubs”?

What about homeschool kids? I know someone who has a very successful company teaching kids who are home schooled.

My friend is a tutor and works with small groups of homeschooled children on core subjects during the day.

Or could you offer your services to go into schools for instrument lessons, my daughter was adamant she wanted to learn the violin after a music teacher came in with one and offered lessons.

For some reason I read arts as music. Ignore me!

I'm desperate to work part time and at this point I would take the hit.

Do you get top up benefits because you have to factor in that you won't get them when your kids are grown up.

I would think that you have lots of transferable skills that could be utilised by schools, centres for adult learning, hospitals, civil service, police etc
It sounds like you are patient with people

I have had times when I have worked more than one job at the same time in different industries. I enjoyed working with different people & energies.

If you are 40s, you have 20+ years left to work until state pension age. If you are self employed, you are missing free contributions from an employer (PAYE) into a personal pension.
However, some people will say that time is more important than money.

Suggest check your state pension forecast

https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

If you did a school based ITT you'd be paid unqualified teacher pay.
Then after a year you'd be on a starting salary of 30k with great employer pension contributions.

@Alittlenonsensenowandthen

Absolutely work part time with a set/capped salary I do, and I have done for 26-28 years since the kids were babies. I could never ever work full time again.

I currently work 18 hours a week over two days (work from home job.) Not the most exciting, but it's quite easy and it pays well. (Government based.) Hell will freeze over before I'd ever have gone full time again after going part time ... (I went part time at around 30-31.)

When you're full time you've got no life. It's a tedious dreary slog, and just plain drudgery. Work, sleep, work, sleep, work, sleep. etc.... No time for anything else.

I think apart from the very few miniscule amount of people who are rich and famous and doing something they absolutely love for a living - like an author or actor or sports person or whatever, most people really don't enjoy working full time. Not really. A few do. A small %, but it is very few.

I want time away from work, to watch my favourite TV programmes, go for long walks and bike rides, go to shows, and to the cinema, spend time with my hubby, (who only works 3 days a week, and has done for the past 4 years since he was mid 50s,) see my adult children, see my friends, and do all the hobbies and pursuits I enjoy... I'm mid to late 50s now, and I'm never likely to work full time again.

I would rather actually go without - and cut my cloth - rather than work full time again. I stopped working full time in my early to mid 30s and I would never go back. Life's too short to be at work full time.