To want to go back to work 3 days a week?

[Saladleaf]

Due to various pregnancy and maternity related discrimination issues I have had to resign from my job during mat leave. Flexi working was not an option and was 5 days in the office or nothing.

I have an 11 month old now and dream of being able to find a new job that allows me to balance being a present mum with the opportunity to continue a career I really enjoy plus bringing in more money than we have with me at home, which just covers bills and basics, no holidays clothes or extras.

I really want to go back 3 days a week but so far my search has only been met with slight smirks as if I’m asking for way too much and being told roles are full time only. Nothing comes up in my industry part time, very rarely.

Does anyone have any advice or positive experiences of finding a new job that’s 3 days a week? It feels like this is something granted to those already working for the company returning from maternity leave. I do feel very unsupported and a bit deflated after what has happened to me, I just really wish I hadn’t got this to worry about. If I can’t find a 3 days a week job I’ll have to go back full time which I have never wanted to do and will utterly resent. The alternative is being a SAHM which is both not for me, and means we can barely afford to live.

I think most part-time jobs come about by someone requesting flexible working after already proving themselves full-time in the role. It's a shame you left your previous role. It's unusual to be so inflexible these days, was there definitely no negotiation?

With my eldest I worked 3 full days a week, as a purchase ledger.

You'd need an entry level admin role to do those kind of hours though, or a job share role where you'd be more likely to look at 2-3 days.

Perhaps if you said what job you do, people could help you OP.

It's really hard OP, I'm sorry to hear your position.

I can't advise re employers as I've worked in 2 places since having children and both have been really accommodating and have let me work several different shifts, and I will say despite other people advising to do 3 days, I preferred to do 5 short ones. This might be more palatable to an employer and lots of nurseries have pricing models where you can pay for half days. It also helped me to some extent avoid that unconscious bias people seem to have against part time employees, because I was there every day to say good morning, attend meetings etc, and I felt more in the loop.

It also meant I was involved in my LO's every day life and routine. When I worked 4 condensed days, I really enjoyed the extra day off but but by the time I was home I was basically just saying goodnight :( and for more than half the week, it didn't really make up for the 3 days off.

Don't forget you will also be entitled to free childcare hours in the very near future (I think it's unless one of you earns over £100k), so this will help further.

I work in PR industry. Will consider seeing if husband would be able to work compressed hours or 4 days a week. I don’t think 5 short days could work unless mostly remote as we are soon looking at moving out of London and would be 1hr each way to try and collect from nursery.

we don’t get any free hours entitlement which adds to the dilemma.

It does depend on the industry/employer but at least in my experience typically 3 days a week is allowed more as a favour to an existing member of staff who has proved themselves already full time, rather than being offered to someone new because it’s not ideal for the business really.

I don’t have any ideas, but sympathy. I found exactly the same more than 10+ years ago and sad it hasn’t changed. I was made redundant from my 3 day a week job and I found the pool of part time jobs absolutely tiny and super competitive. In the end I got a job at a sure start centre, but it wasn’t well paid and certainly not a career.

As others have said, see if you can both do 4 days. I had twins so childcare costs were insane, so me and DH both had one NWD a week on different days and then 3 days in nursery (which they loved, and even now at almost 6 they talk about their nursery - so don’t worry about that!)

I agree that 4 days with just one day off a week is more palatable and much more common for employers than 3 days. I still work 4 days now even though they’re at school (it’s wonderful!)

Good luck with the search OP.

There are 168 hours in a week. Even if your toddler spent half of them sleeping, you would work full time and still be with them more than half of their waking week.

I found myself in a similar position after my first baby, except my office shut down and everyone was made redundant while I was on mat leave.

I had also hoped to go back part time, but found it literally impossible to find similar jobs to the one I had just lost but part time working hours. It did feel like I was asking for the moon!

I ended up being mainly a SAHM for a few years, and then just took whatever I could get part time round my husband's working hours*.

I am now doing a school hours only job which doesn't pay all that well, and has nothing much to do with my eduction or pre-motherhood career, but it does work really well.

Editing to add, it wasn't just about me spending more time with my children which made us choose this option. It was also nursery costs. When I was made redundant all the jobs I found full time paid peanuts and compared to nursery fees we were losing money after nursery fees (it was an industry which wasn't doing all that well at the time, hence the redundancies. It just didn't make sense for us to be losing money for the privilege of not seeing my kids all week.

Yes, I know nursery fees are a joint expense, but looking at household income vs household expenses, we were going to be worse off so 🤷‍♀️

*I was a hostess in a fine dining restaurant some evenings and weekends and then did breakfast service when my youngest started preschool

I've done it, but not recently. And these things are so industry specific.

You could always pick up something that isn't your usual job that works around your husband's hours for a few years until baby is older. More money coming in and no need for nurseries.

I am in the same situation and I am just going to start full time and ask to go part time once I have started, maybe after a month or so.

I would look at the charity sector, civil service, local authorities for jobs as they tend to be more flexible when it comes to work patterns or maybe NHS administration roles.

I have mostly worked for charities in management roles and I have worked 3 days a week for the past 20 years ( I have a long term health condition).

It saddens me when I read threads like this to see how rigid some people are in their thinking when it comes to work patterns.

Full time, 9 to 5 hours were set based on a legacy of factory working and based on how men's lives were organised. Meaning it was expected hat women would stay at home to pick up all the childcare and housework while men went out to work.

I have no idea as to why so many still cling to this concept as the only way to work...

Yeah charity is a good place to look because sometimes the funding dictates the hours offered.

I went to work in the public sector for exactly this reason - I could ask for three days straight out of the gate and it was fine.

In the private sector, it’s much harder: you either negotiate with your current employer and they may offer it if they don’t want to lose you; or (if you can find it) you accept a role that has limited staffing needs so no opportunity to increase your hours later, but those are typically rare, not well paid or don’t use your qualifications.

if 3 days is really important to you I would look at the civil service or public sector roles; even if it’s a bit of a holding pattern or half step back, it’s good to keep your experience going as you will look to move forward in your career again later.

Thinking outside the box will help you here. Get a job working weekends, or evenings during the week?

Or compressed hours 3 days per week?

I was just going to suggest charities but see pp have beat me to it.
I work for a local church doing their admin, paperwork, book keeping. They have links to other local charities (many churches do but of course there are other non-affiliated local charities if religion is a problem for you). I do 12 hours a week but in the past year I have been offered 3 additional jobs: one was a single day of 7 hours a week (hence why they offered it to me as they knew no one would want it), another 15 hours a week, another 15 hours a week but dependant on funding might be increased (needs to be tbh).
I was asked to apply for these by people who knew and trusted me but they appointed anyway when I declined and the people they appointed are people who want part time. And jobs that can for the most part be left at the door. Pay is minimum wage or only slightly over though. Something to consider. Because these are small charities, they're often much less rigid, don't have formal policies and will be open to listening to your proposals of what hours could work (e.g. one of the 15 hour jobs is filled by a retiree who wanted a job with low stress - she works 4 mornings a week. The 7 hour a week job I was told could be spread however I wanted, would have been from home anyway. I do my own job in 2 chunks of 5 hours (within school hours) and then my extra 2 hours as and when in evenings, naptimes, weekends).

P.s. these jobs are far more likely to be advertised on Facebook or indeed than linked in

Could you look for lower level jobs which are three days a week. Then, as your childcare responsibilities decrease as DC get older, you may be able to progress? A friend of mine did this. She got a part time admin job in local authority, despite having been a senior manager in banking sector.

She made her way up to a very senior level as and when she chose to apply for promotions.

Because child rearing is still, in 2025, seen as women’s work, and men are free to work 9-5 or 8-6 or whatever hours they like without ever worrying about balancing domestic responsibilities with work. Every woman that gives up her career because of childcare costs, or goes part time to enable her to works whilst being fully responsible for every element of domestic servitude reinforces this.

Meanwhile her male colleagues continued unencumbered by the demands of parenting.

Case in point. :(

This. In sectors where organisations have less money to hire people, they are glad to find people willing to work part-time. (As an employer in one of these sectors, sometimes i feel obliged to offer the job as full time, in order to attract applicants. The opposite of your problem! But i would very seriously consider an experienced individual who wants to work part time, because my budget will go further.
In addition to the organisations mentioned by Greenwithart, also consider University.

Generally the jobs are support roles, but quite often requiring high intelligence and ability.

Your DH could look at 9 day fortnight either compressed hours or not, you could then look and apply for full time and ask for a 9 day fortnight, again either compressed or not.

Try the charity sector. Lots of part time and flexible options there plus hybrid and remote.

Charity.job.co.uk

Civil service, NHS or Local Authority/ Council is probably your best bet for flexibility and options but pay is generally not as good.
Job shares cost employers more because they are paying the on costs for two staff instead of one so
larger companies maybe a better option.