To be in a dilemma about full time vs part time work

[Aroundthefur]

My children are slightly older now and have definitely benefited from my being around 2 days a week (I work 0.6) over the years. My husband likes having me at home but has always been supportive of my choices. I don’t earn badly for part time £27k but would be near 50k or > if I really wanted; he is a high earner but we have a fairly hefty mortgage and the extra money would be nice.

My issue is that I’ve climbed the ladder in my career well over the last few years and have a fairly clear trajectory but I’m at the point where I would need to up my days to do this;

Pension is a big reason;

I’m worried though that if I did return FT, I’d regret it and would miss the time I have for family admin etc; it gives me flexibility with the kids and means I can be present more. My job can be quite stressful so I do a fair bit extra whilst they’re in school. If I was FT, that would change to evenings and weekends.

I’d love to hear stories from both FT / PT as I honestly cannot make my mind up: money & career vs time at home ensuring life runs smoothly for us all!

How old are your DC? I do 4 days and plan to continue this throughout their time at primary school at the least.

I think that when you work full time you find ways of being more efficient so that you don’t need to do life admin in your spare time. Without wanting to sound patronising, I mean things like doing the online shop on the train, or other admin during lunch. Maybe if you use every 5 minutes efficiently then you can work FT and then be present when at home. I realise that can’t work for all jobs though.

I work a full time 9 day fortnight now. So all the salary but I do all my hours in 9 out of 10 days. I’ve always worked full time though so have no concept on days at home when the kids were smaller!

I haven't got any children but chose to fo 0.8 for me last year. Back to FT this year, not through choice ball ache

I'd look at the difference in take home/between all the options, taking into account travel, need to buy time by spending more money as well as tax...

Could you do 0.8? I’ve found that a lot of jobs/employers are open to 0.8 when they’re not open to less, so it’s a bit more practical to get on and up. Or compressed hours? Pre-kids I did a 9 day fortnight and it made a huge difference to my evenings and weekends - I could get so much admin-y stuff (bank, haircut, etc) done in that day that I really felt my weekends were my own.

Edit to add: my kids are still young, I’m part time at a similar pattern/earnings level to you and I cannot envisage going back to full time unless we got in to a really bad financial situation. For me it’s just too much.

Those of you who do a 9 day fortnight what are your hours?

Contracted 37 hours a week. Generally do 40 or so. I’ll join a call on my non working day if needed etc. it’s really flexible.

Maybe do 4 days? Or 5 shorter days? I'm work .75 and it is a really nice balance. I don't think I'd ever go back full time and one of my biggest regrets is that I didn't go part time pre kids. For me it isn't even about having time to myself, it's that things never feel rushedso life is just calmer, we can do things after school and I don't find that we have to live for the weekend.

To add, not sure how old your kids are but have a few friends who went back full time when the kids went to school then have dropped back to part time now they're teenagers as they felt they were more needed, especially after school.

I've found PT work to be a good balance as my kids have got older. They are college aged and high school and I've never worked more than 18 hours a week at any point.

I would struggle to up my hours even yet I think. Me being off just means that everything runs more smoothly at home.

I intend to go FT in a few years when youngest is 18. I'll be 44 at that point so still plenty of time to pay more into my pension etc.

I absolutely regret going back full time. Wish I could do a four day week but in education now so not really feasible unfortunately 😔 I'd take time over money any day.

I mostly did 0.8 for about 19 years, did 0.6 for a few years after the 3rd DC was born. I've finally gone back to almost FT (35 hours) but I do compressed hours and a small bit of WFH here and there, I also do shift work. I can manage now because the youngest DC is now in high school.

So I've only worked FT for about 2 years in total and I'm in my early 40's! I plan on staying on 35 hours for the remaining 25ish years of my working life.

Do what works for you!

I in education too. 4 days suited me too. Was told had to go back to full time. Staffing shortage . Even worse nxt year. Back to weekend working. Used to use my day off to.prepare lessons do could have the weekends free😫

5 days in 4 works brilliantly for me.

Can your DH go part time for a bit and sort the life admin so you can focus on your career now?

What kind of help could you buy with the extra income, and do you like your work? I love my job and would rather work than clean, so it makes more sense to me to work full time and get help in the house. (It helps than my hourly wage is higher than a cleaner’s, of course.)

4 days is perfect. Or trial full time with an agreement through work you can revert back if it's too much. 50k a year is not worth extra evening and weekend work. I earn 50k ish and do 37 hours a week compressed into 4 days. I do no extra work at all on my other 3 days off or evenings unless we are really busy when I do then work extra through my own choosing with overtime at 1.5x my hourly rate. I Dont work for free!

I work part time (2 days a week) and absolutely wouldn’t change that at all, I had small children when I dropped down from 3 to 2 days a week and our lives improved massively. Now they are at school I could probably cope with 3 days a week but I do definitely notice the difference when my roster results in me working 3-4 days out of 7. If I happen to have a cold or other things going on the difference feels even more intense. We would literally have to be on the breadline for us to give up the multitude of ways in which it makes the whole family‘s life easier

my children are now 26 and 22.... i went part time when the oldest was 1 year old. one has now moved out and is married and has a baby on the way, the other is just finishing uni.

we don't earn anywhere near as much as you do... but i have absolutely no intention of going up to full time hours. i made it very clear how it was going to be..

we are fine financially

I found that when working full time I outsourced a lot of things- cleaning, ironing, gardening etc… all of which cost money. However, the trade off was bigger pension contributions (inc state pension). Can you do the maths and see if it is financially worth it to go back full-time? If you can afford it I wouldn’t. I work 15 hours a week and it’s the perfect work life balance for me.

I do 4 days 9-2.30, which suits me beautifully, but does also come with a salary of <£20k. One day the money will mean more to me than being around for DS after school and having Friday off for brunch/shopping/haircut/life admin but this is not that day.

A 9 day fortnight can work well. Gives you flexibility when cover for illness etc, perhaps your DH could do the same?

Primary aged kids? I would stay part time. There so many things you have to do during work hours, I like having a day to move around so I’m there for them.
Secondary aged kids? I’d go back full time if I enjoyed the job.

What do you mean a bigger state pension?

My understanding is that once you've paid "stamp" for however long it is (35 years or whatever) you get the same state pension.

i disagree about the state pension... i have worked part time for the past 25 years and i have contributed fully to my state pension... you don't get more if you earn more...

and before people jump on me, no i dont get any beneifts so my contributions are not funded that way.