To ask if my situation was unusual?

[TestMatch]

I was born in 1972 (probably with Gilbert O’ Sullivan gently playing in the background)

My mum went back to work full time less than a month after I was born. She was a determined career woman and pushed hard for promotion etc.

When I told my colleague this, she said how unusual this was. She was born in 1980 and said that my situation was so unusual in that her own mother and mothers of the 1980 born kids she was in school with either didn’t work at all or only went back to work - full time at least - when their kids were around 12 - secondary school age.

Neither did I

I was born in the late ‘80s and my mum went back to work full time when I was 6 months old. Both my parents worked full time in opposing shift patterns to look after me. My mum would have loved the opportunity to stay home for longer or at least work part time, but they would not have been able to afford it.

80s baby... my mum never stayed home. Owned a business with my dad so back to work quick.
I have teens, I took 6 years off to be at home with them. We went without a LOT but it was worth it for us.

I was also born in 1972, 2nd child with sibling born 1968.

My mum did bits & pieces, had done shop work, bookkeeping & stock control from school.
She worked in a chippy when pg with my siblings but had to leave due to morning sickness and the owner kept her on to do the books.
She did childminding when I was small, and when I was about 4 did a NNEB and then Bach Education and started teaching when I was 9.

I don't really recall whether friends mums worked full time, I think most worked at least part time though.

I do remember when I met my 1st H at uni, his mum hadn't worked his whole childhood until he was 16, and I remember I thought that was very strange.

Born mid 70s. Mum changed career and started lecturing when I was in nursery. Loads of kids of similar age down our street. Of their mums, next door was a health visitor and working when we all started school, over the road was a secretary, back to work part time once her youngest started school; their next door was working when we started primary. New neighbours moved in - they ran a restaurant so mum always worked... All mums were working by the time their youngest hit 5. But I think all families were the first generation to be able to buy a house so all quite aspirational and needed money. Plus nursery was free and available to all.

I was born in the late 1970s. My mum was a SAHM until I was about 7, then worked part-time. From when I was 11 she worked full time.

There was no wrap-around care at school at the time and we had no family locally. At primary we had a childminder at one point or went to the house of my sister’s friend’s mum, which I wasn’t too keen on. From 11 I let myself in and was home alone for a couple of hours.

Born 1971 my mum had her own business at that point, went back to work quickly and I was definitely a thrown up not brought up kid. With neighbours and grandparents a lot.

Yes it was unusual, most of my friends had mothers who didn't work.

Set a great example for me though, I earn six figures in the tech industry.

I was born in the 70’s and DM went out to work full time from when I was a year old. I do remember feeling quite envious though of my friends at school whose Mothers were there at the school gates at pick up.

I was born in 1970. I don't remember any mums that I knew working outside the home. The marriage bar was still in place then as well.

I was born around then, my mum gradually took on more and more work (she was a teen). My friends mum, however, was really leading the way. Her husband left her during pregnancy, completely abandoning them (no visits until she was 10, no money). She'd already started working in coding and was able to work from home as a partner in an IT company. But it was rare

Maternity leave didn't really improve until 1990s!

The UK introduced its first maternity leave legislation through the Employment Protection Act 1975, which was extended through further legislation, such as The Employment Act 1980. However, for the first 15 years, only about half of working women were eligible for it because of long qualifying periods of employment. In 1993, coverage was extended to all working women, in order to bring Britain into compliance with a European Commission directive on this issue. In 2003, male employees received paid statutory paternity leave for the first time, an entitlement that was extended in January 2010.

My paternal grandma (my dad was a war baby) always worked- self employed shop owner. My maternal grandma always worked around having kids/evening jobs. My mum always worked/ evening/weekend jobs or latterly my parents were self employed. Childcare was non-existent. I remember a lot of working class women of the 80s (and earlier) working, but it was always around the kids/school hours.

I was born in the 70s. My mum gave up work when my older sibling was born. My mum never returned to work at all.
Some of my school friends had the same but many of them had mums who worked part time. I don't remember any friends who had mums that worked full time though

I was born first half of 70s. Working class, My mum had to give up work when she left to have me. Don’t know if that was an expectation rather than ‘law’. She told me that in her public sector job, women were not allowed to continue to work after having a baby.

Very similar. My mum was booted out of her job when she got married in 1966. Thanks British Steel! Women were expected to be at home looking after the house and husband.

When she was widowed she went to night school to become qualified and worked from then on (she retired a few years ago). We had to walk home from school ourselves, even on the first day of a new school. Children were expected to "just get on with it" and manage.

I was born in 1980, my mum was a single mum from the start as my dad was a foreign student who had returned to his home country. She'd qualified as a teacher just before finding out she was pregnant. She went back to work as a teacher when I was 12m old, only 3 days a week though, and the next door neighbour looked after me - the neighbour wasn't a childminder or anything, just a nice older woman whose own children had left home and she liked having a bit of her own money.

My mum worked all through my childhood doing mainly supply teaching or adult education evening classes (remember those?!) even after she married my stepdad (who had a fairly well paid job) when I was 6. She did take 12 months off when each of my 2 younger siblings were born, more than maternity leave was at the time. I think teaching generally was far less stressful back then, especially as she taught a secondary subject that was optional so only the interested students were in her classes!

My mum worked full time from 6 weeks in a fairly responsible role, she kept climbing the ladder. I was dropped off at Grandmas before school and went there after until she passed away when I was nearly at high school. I remember straight starting high school getting the bus and being home alone till they both got home from work and spending large amounts of school holidays alone. I hated it. It did make me aspire to and want a career too though and working is definitely something I always wanted to do and it was never in me to be a stay at home mum. My kids are still at primary school and my mum is now close to 80 as she had me late and this is causing problems now. We’re not that close, she needs more support than I can give with little kids and working full time. Lots of lessons for me to learn going forward with my own kids growing up.

Sending solidarity, I had similar experiences to you. I am an only child too and found being a ‘latch key kid’ quite isolating. I worked really hard to ensure I could work part time flexibly when I had DC, but I do appreciate this is still a privileged position to be in. I think we are very much in the sandwich generation, stretched between caring responsibilities for our children and ageing parents. It’s not easy at all.

Op I was born the same year and going by the tune in the background probably share the same name too
My mum went back to work part time when my younger sibling was at school

I was born in 1966. My mum was a childminder for the first few years of my life then went to work full time when I started school. She always worked. Neither parents earned very much so they both had to work.

I was born in 1972, and my mum worked from when I could remember. She did teaching supply pretty full time, but got a permanent FT job when I was 6. I went to a neighbours after school where I got to watch Take the High Road and the Young Doctors which my mum would never have let us watch so it was a pretty good deal

In Ireland it was law until the early 70s that women had to give up their civil service jobs upon marriage!

When my aunts told me that I was bit shocked. I was born late 80s and my mum always worked - she was senior hcp though.

I was born early 70s, my mom had been a teacher but gave it up when my little brother was born. My dad was a doctor and she became his practice manager and we had a 'housekeeper' who came daily to clean/cook for us during school breaks. Parents also had two cars and several holidays abroad in the 70s, but both of them came from pretty wealthy backgrounds, my mom had her own car in college which was absolutely unheard of! Her sisters were also doctors and teachers, all married doctors so working was the norm. Most of my friends with working moms either had family help or housekeepers. Neither of my grandmothers worked, but I remember hearing they'd both had live in help for at least 6 months whenever they'd had a baby (Irish Catholic so there were a few lol), usually a young girl who'd just left school from a local farming family. I don't know why but that always stuck with me!

I had a career up until my first DC, never intended not to return but best laid plans and all that! Ended up as expats due to my DH's job with several international moves over the early child rearing years. I've worked occasionally since, but it was next to impossible to restart and I've been lucky in that it's not been a financial need. I focused on other priorities with the kids when it was just us abroad with no family support. We eventually decided to stay put where the kids were the most settled but my DH still had to do a lot of travelling and his office hours when home were not conducive to doing any of the day to day parenting of school runs/pick ups/doctor appts/after school activities. Now we're about to be empty nesters, I'm looking in to retraining, possibly teach something similar to my degree at 3rd level.

I was lonely and isolated too. Not an only but a substantially older sibling who’d gone to uni by the time I started high school. Sibling doesn’t get why I’m not close to parents but had a very different childhood. I enjoy work but desperately want to balance that better and enjoy my kids whilst not looking after my mother in the same way she never had to care for a parent.

My mum and dad worked full time. Born early 70’s.
My dad worked nights so from 3 years old I was at local nursery then main school.
Don’t remember my mum much from my earlier years.
She never came to sports day or parents evening.
She was never interested in my life really. It was a bit shit but I was the youngest and I think she’d just had enough lol.

So was I!