to feel like part time work is giving me the worst of both worlds?

[mswhingealot]

As a part time member of staff, I earn less (which I do sometimes have to remind my colleagues of when I am accused of swanning in / out) but I still have quite a hefty admin load: that doesn’t really decrease with the number of days if that makes sense. I can’t really go for promotions (I don’t really want to in fairness) and generally miss out.

At home because I’m part time the house stuff and the children stuff falls onto me. My husband works away a lot so the mornings I do work are invariably stressed and rushed getting us all out of the house.

I’ve only recently gone back after my second maternity leave and feeling a bit despondent with it

YANBU. Why do you have the same load as a FT employee? I’d be raising that with my line manager asap.

I didn't realise what a shit deal part time was until I went back full time. We use the extra money for a cleaner and food delivery and dh does far more of the full stuff around the house than before. I'm better paid, been promoted, do less at home and actually have some head space in work to plan rather than just race through tasks. Only downside is I'm more tired by the weekend and missing walking in the day.

Oh dear! That's a shame. I feel I have the best of both worlds nd the perfect balance working 3 days a week part time. But then, my dh also works opposite me the other 4 days a week part time. So we kind of tag team and make it work.

Maybe it's a bit too soon after your mat leave and you to need to give it some more time to settle into a routine and get more organised?

PS when I first went part time after mat leave 1 I felt a bit similar to you. Told everyone it was career suicide! But it did get better with time.

YANBU.

i work 4 days per work and my job hasn’t changed, so 5 days in 4 for 4 days’ pay.

But I work full hours on those days so kids are in after school club. I don’t have to worry about making them dinner, beyond a snack when they get home, not any mess to clear up really as no time to make any, and the housework falls 50:50 with DH.

I often think working school hours is the hardest work type.

I felt the same after my second child, I feel for you. I was doing everything, but nothing well. It also used to annoy me when I'd leave work and people would say 'you lucky thing'. Well it's not lucky, lucky would be if I was working less and still getting paid the same as you lol. We went without to be able to afford me going part time.
What I will say is that it does get easier. Once your children are school age things definitely become more manageable if you can remain part time

Yes - I work school hours, three days a week! I’m hoping if I can grit my teeth for the next few years it will get easier when they’re in school and I’ll actually have a couple of days a week to get things done.

I feel you OP. I'm exactly the same. I was so enthusiastic when I first returned PT after baby 1. This time around after baby 2 I'm so negative about everything work wise and I'm exhausted and fed up of housework at home. If I went back FT we'd have double whack of 2 full time nursery fees which we can't afford and I'd miss spending time with my children while they're so small, and I'd still have the full whack of housework to do. My DH is away a lot but does what he can when he's here.

I agree.

I was hired to do a part-time job 3 days a week but soon found out that the workload does not match: it definitely would have needed at least a full time employee or even a team and people's expectations have not been adjusted.

So I get a part-time salary but I am expected to provide full-time cover and I have colleagues who blame/criticise me for somehow not magically delivering everything with no capacity or budget.

Hence why I am job hunting.

I have done part-time jobs that were manageable and enjoyable but if you have a company that basically hired a part-timer to save money and exploit them then it is just horrendous.

Working part time only works if you have a boss who gets/respects part time workers/hours imo.

I’ve had great experiences working PT under managers who grasp that less hours and less pay equals less work.

also had it shit under managers who just think you should get everything done in less time 🙄

Working part time only works if you have a boss who gets/respects part time workers/hours imo.

And if your role is genuinely a part time one, not a full time job to be done on half the time.

I agree with both of those points.

I also agree that it can feel like the worst of both worlds: never achieving at work what you could if full time and not measuring up with the SAHMs. I found it helped to look at my life as a whole, not individual elements.

It is healthy to occasionally revisit your decision to work part time and assess whether it's working for you. I needed the extra challenge of working but also didn't want to spend more time at work than I did with mg family.
Working full time does obviously have the benefit of extra money so the mundane domestic tasks can be outsourced to free up time to spend with your family.
But where I worked full time rapidly became 60 hour weeks and that wasn't for me.

I fully agree with you @mswhingealot as I experienced similar, however, mine was made a lot worse because my boss, was quite frankly an absolute dick, when it came to my return to work after maternity leave and going down to 4 days a week.
She still expected me to do a full weeks work but in 4 days.

It caused me a lot of stress and my mental health took a downwards spiral. My hormones were all over the place - returning to work, LO starting nursery, moving house, I’d stopped breastfeeding etc - and it was only her manager who understood and had a word with her because he knew what it was like as his wife had returned to work after maternity leave a few months before me.

If your manager isn’t understanding, can you raise to HR or their manager if you aren’t being supported in terms of workload and part time hours?

In terms of the household stuff, even now I’m back full time, the mornings are always a rush but I prep things in advance and admittedly, have to use the tv to get ready in the morning as I find it impossible with a toddler and being alone (DH leaves for work before we’re even up).

Alot of employers treat part time hours as actually condensed hours, I work school hours 5 days a week but basically work full time without the pay.

This week I have been really strict at finishing at 3.30 and the difference in my output is obvious, I've arranged a meetingto discuss what is realistic going forward.

Yep. I did 24 hours, then increased to 30(which isn’t part time enough to benefit other than financially not paying after school care) then 37.5 and my world got so much easier. Much more balanced now than part time.