To ask if you work full or part time and the reasons why?

[BabyNextYear25]

My sister received news today she would not be able to return to work full time as there isn't capacity. She was a little annoyed as her youngest will be in school and she's bored at home.
It got me thinking, the vast majority of my female friends and family work part time. It would be my dream to work part time but it's not feasible at the moment. Um curious to see how many women work part time, and what is there reason behind it? But also full time as well.
My reason is simple- I was single parent and I couldn't pay my mortgage on one wage.

Part time, 3 days a week so I can spend time with DS and luckily it's something we can afford. I feel like it's the best of both worlds and I happy with things as they are.

I went part-time when DCs were little. I then also became part-time self employed running my oen business, and still do that. I just wanted time really. Time with DCs, building up and working on business, my garden, exploring new opportunities. I don’t like a frenetic lifestyle, working f/t with children to raise didnt suit me, I was stressed and anxious. + youre middle-aged by 40 given our lifespan. I wouldnt want to work full-time almost 3 decades beyond 40. I commend people who do it tho, Im 60 now and even the thought of daily commute 5 days per week tires me out

My husband earns minimum wage and has limited ability to earn more, unfortunately, due to severe ADHD.
i have no choice but to work full time as I want to provide as much as I can for my kids. I have just got a promotion and I earn 75K.
i returned to work when my youngest was barely 6 weeks old.
our disposal income is available to both of us but he has less stress and more time to enjoy spending it, of which I sometimes feel resentful especially if he is being particularly selfish or difficult.
i also do all household admin as he just doesn’t have a clue. It means I have little free time.
i would dearly love to be a housewife. I’d love to volunteer more at my kids school and have time to tidy my house and not feel embarrassed when people come round.

Part time. Mainly to spend time with the children when they were small. I also had no family to help and poor childcare options which seemed to be easier not trying to juggle working full time in a stressful role which involved long hours.
I have continued for work life balance, we can just manage financially on my part time wage and DH full time although recently it has felt more difficult and I am considering increasing a bit.

I work full time and my husband is a full time carer for our disabled son.
A few years ago it was the other way around.
I can earn more money than my husband while working full time at home.
So it makes more sense for me to be the one who works full time.

Part time- I work nights so that I’m still home with the DC during the day and we don’t have to spend a fortune on childcare- doing full time hours would mean starting before the DC are in bed.

Part time.
i had to leave babies dad for her safety. Calculated the cost of daycare, my full time salary was just over uc threshold. Wouldn’t have financially coped.
so part time and uc - not much diff to my salary, but support on daycare for my work days 🤷‍♀️ system is very flawed for those who want to work.
changes for the 30 hours funded isn’t until 2025, and she’d be almost at school by that point.

I was working full time before I had my 1st DC but then dropped down to part time 2 days a week, this saved on child care costs and allowed me to spend time going to toddler groups etc. When 2nd DC came along I became a SAHM until both children started full time primary school. I then went back to work part time in a school kitchen so I could be there for school drop offs/pick ups and school holidays. Now they are teens I gave up the school kitchen work but still work part time 4 days a week so I can have some me time too

I’ve worked full time since the age of 18 except when the kids were preschool where I worked 3 days a week. They’re now both at uni and I still work full time because my husband and support them both and we both like lots of holidays, nice cars, eating out and want to keep our large house. Couldn’t do that without two full time wages unfortunately. Once both kids have flown the nest then we will downsize and take it easier.

Full-time ...... had no choice as I needed the money. I went back to work full-time when my baby was 12 weeks old as I had to pay my mortgage.

Full time - Money

More than full time for majority of my working life, I like to be busy and never really got the balance right. Luckily I married someone who also works 60+ hours a week. I'm now pregnant and I would like to only go back part time but I suppose I may change my mind once the baby is here. We don't need the money, are only having one child and would like to make the most of it.

I work full time because I’m ambitious, I worked hard to get where I am, I like having money and the freedom that brings and I enjoy the intellectual stimulation of work.

@Hubblebubble because of Ill health. I've been told by two separate consultants to either stop working or go part-time, unfortunately that's just not financially viable. I'm 30 and going to 4 days a week has allowed me to stay in work and far less time off sick and in hospital.

Full time. Mortgage, 2 kids, permanently separated from husband. Would love to work fewer hours and spend more time with the kids, but in the kinds of roles that I do/can do (managerial roles in education) I feel like if I worked 3-4 days a week I'd have to still fulfill a FT role but in fewer days amd with less pay!

Currently 30hrs a week but also studying for a professional qualification alongside that so overall working more than full time hours.

Previously I have always worked part time because my mental health has struggled without regular downtime. Usually this was about 30hrs a week but when my MH was at its worst I worked 10hrs a week in a freelance capacity so was very much in control of my workload. I also did most of the childcare and household stuff at this point which is unpaid work but still work.

I recognise I was/am in a very privileged position that I had the option of reducing paid work hours and could afford to do so.

Part time. 3 days per week. Love the extra time with my kids but also have practical reasons.

1. Cost of childcare. Eldest isn’t too bad, wrap around is £13-14 a day. Youngest is just over £72 a day. I use tax free childcare but I’m nearly at the 10k cap just from my 3 days. If I worked full time I’d have to pay full whack for my extra 2 days. That met with obviously paying full tax, national insurance, pensions, student loans on extra salary would basically mean I was working for pennies.
2. Time. I’m a teacher. I always use to work at least 1/2 a day at the weekend from home when I worked full-time. I feel that would be really hard now with a 3 year old and 10 month old at home fighting for my attention!

Very part time. I take my hat off to anyone that can work full time with more than one child. I had burn out twice and decided quality of life is more important to me. Understand not everyone has the choice, and hope those that work FT have plenty of support and look after themselves, it’s really hard.

I currently work full time.

However, from 2009 to 2020 I worked part time, from 2009 to 2011 I worked 3 days a week (20 hours) then increased to 5 days a week and 30 hours when she started nursery at 3.

I was made redundant one week into 2021 and have worked full time since then, my daughter was a teenager by then so didn’t need me to pick her up from school
etc and the job I wanted was full time only. Never regretted these choices and was fortunate to be able to do this.

Part time here! At first I didn’t earn enough to pay for full time childcare on a teachers salary. Then, when my daughter started school, it still didn’t make financial sense with all breakfast and after school care. Instead we managed to do an 3 way childcare rotation with neighbours so we could all still work part of the week. Also, it works for our family as I take care of the house, laundry, pets, errands etc so the weekends are free for family time. I also have the time to take our daughter to after school activities and help with homework on my days off. We’ve had to make sacrifices but it’s been worth it so far.

I have worked part time in low paid jobs since I had my oldest, and I intend to stay part time until they don't need me as much. Oldest is only 11 so still going to be a long time ! I only work term time 3 days a week, cut down from 4 because I wasn't coping as my job is with SEND children who are very full on and my 2 younger children have SEN as well.

Summer before last I started in my firstf full time role since having DC; ever since DC1 was born in 2015 I'd done various part time patterns of my choosing.

The FT role is fully WFH but I still struggle a bit and would like to go back down to at least slightly part time, but it's hard to justify the loss in income right now.

I’m contracted for 30 hours, usually work a bit more, so it’s pretty much full time. However, I do have 1 day off in the week which I couldn’t be without. I usually end up logging on and doing a couple of hours work but it gives me the chance to catch up in the house when kids are in school and any other errands. Ideally, I would work 3 days, but that’s not possible with role and finance situation.

Part time. 3 days. Intend to stay part time until the youngest of my 4 children is in high school. Definitely miss the full time wage but childcare for 4 full time wouldn't leave me with much of a difference...

Full time until children then part-time until youngest was 11- initially 3 days pw in the city then to a local school job 930-3, 5 days per week but term time only. Then back to full time in the school role when youngest went to secondary school and I had split from my exH so needed the money. Now semi retired at 52 as I had a mental breakdown during the divorce and couldn't cope with the pressurised, stressful job. Once divorced and marital home sold, I downsized as kids adult and left home. Mortgage/rent free so can afford to work part time again. Planning to move soon and will have to change jobs - hopefully I'll be able to stay part time.