Going part time when childfree

[EnterFunnyNameHere]

Hi folks,

I'd be interested in others' opinions on this.

DH & I are both good earners and not really big spenders, so doing fine. We don't have kids and don't plan to have any, so have no outgoings in that regard.

As a result, we could afford for me to go part time, but I'm really struggling to decide whether to do it.

Reasons for:
Work is stressful & life is short!
We can afford it without significant paring back of lifestyle.
DH all for it on my behalf.

Reasons against:
Whilst DH is keen, I worry eventually he'd resent it on some level, or just feel guilty that I would be getting an easier life.
How can you ever be sure you'll have enough for retirement/future? Should I be working when I can to build up funds?
I suspect on some level it will be viewed negatively at work, as most people go part-time to look after their DC, so worried it will make me look less committed to my career.

I never thought I'd be in so much angst - I'm in a position to make my life so much easier but don't seem to be able to reconcile myself to just do it!

Any help to get my head straight, or thoughts on either side of the argument??

How old are you?
What's your pension fund look like?
What would be your reaction if DH said HE wanted to go PT as well?
What effect would it have on career progression if you wanted to go back to FT?
What would you do with the free time?

I think my main considerations would be:

• How old are you?
• How are your savings and retirement pot at this current time?
• Where do you plan to live in your older years and how much will this cost? Do you plan to live somewhere expensive to fund, like a retirement village (this is my own plan!).
• Would you perhaps be interested in creating your own little business on the side which you could do whilst you are not at your 'main' job? Perhaps you have a hobby / talent you could put to good use.

Just some thoughts. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

I think that there’s lots of good reasons to go part-time like health. How many days were you thinking? I think a lot of people would prefer 3 or 4 if they could.

What pps said. But also, when you say ‘we’ could afford it, presumably you mean you’d still be self-supporting, cover your half of the bills etc, your DH wouldn’t be supporting you to any extent if you went PT? Otherwise presumably he could also choose to go PT? Or are you saying he might resent it because if you went PT, he’d have to stay FT?

I made this leap last year and haven't looked back. I reduced from 37.5 to 33 hours, no longer work a Monday but do an extra hour each day. So sort of a part time/compressed hours hybrid. Has been amazing for my mental health, minimal reduction in salary and able to maintain similar work outputs as my last hour each day, everyone else has gone home so no meetings or distractions! I wish I had done it sooner!

I'm 40.
My pension fund is pretty reasonable I think, but it's hard to say how much I'll need when I retire given all of life's unknowns! So who knows if it is enough!!
I would LOVE my DH to go part time as well as me (and we could afford that, within reason). I think I'd feel weird being FT whilst he was PT, but that's because we can both afford to be PT so why should I stay FT?
I think I would be able to go to FT if I wanted, unless there really wasn't the business base for it. I do worry it would make me look less committed to my career though.
In my free time I would do my hobbies! And probably more than my 50% housework to be honest to assuage the guilt!

I think I've covered some of this in an earlier reply so won't repeat, but in terms of where we'll live in old age - no idea really! Probably downsize to somewhere with more services (currently very rural) I guess but it's not something I've really thought of... no plans for anything expensive though.

I absolutely do not want to start a side business, I want less work not more 😁

DH wouldn't have to stay FT to support me no, he qould almost certainly choose to stay FT as he gets more satisfaction from work and deals with the stress a lot better than me!

Ideally I think 4 days a week - I was wondering if I could do 4.5 and basically every other week work 4 days maybe? So 5 day week, then 4 day week, on repeat. I think that technically is an option!

That sounds really solid as an approach, and similar to my ideal, although I'd do a five day week then a four day week if that makes sense!

Do you feel like it's had negative implications at your work place?

Could you do it on a trial basis? My employer actively encourages this for any flexible working request. I suspect in practice there is very little chance that you won't decide to stay part-time but you might find it easier to make the leap if it's a trial!

Realistically, in a lot (though not all) workplaces being part-time does mean you're seen as less committed and less of a candidate for advancement. But that only really matters if you want to advance - do you?

I work part-time for health reason although I also do some additional self-employed stuff.

Do what makes you happy. Life is too short to be miserable...

Does your work offer compressed working hours? For example I work a 9 day fortnight. This allows we a day off every 9 days whilst not sacrificing salary/ pension etc. this might allow you to have more flexibility without the gilt of DP working more hours than you?

I have worked part time for 25 years since returning to work after first maternity leave, and plan to carry on working part time until retirement. I could have returned to full time work once my children were able to get to and from school by themselves but chose not to.

I have seen more older people, including lots of men, switching to part time without any negative implications. Tbh, I get as much work done as full time colleagues, evidenced by time constrained projects that I have worked on. I am able to be quite flexible and will swap days or work extra days if needed. The managers where I work now are quite used to organising things to take account of PT workers.

You can choose to pay extra into your pension and there are loads of online calculators to work out what your pension(s) will pay when you retire.

Me and my best friend are both single and childfree

We both initially went to 4 days a week around age 40

I then went freelance and never do more than 4 days, more like 3 now.

she's continued up to being very senior and well paid, got headhunted into her last two jobs. So advancement is possible. Both asked her to go full time at interview. She said no but got the jobs anyway. She was asked why and she stated simply it was her preference.

In reality she was quite cross about the question and said to me "it's tempting to answer, because I can afford it" 😂

But yes, financial planning is a whole different ball game when you don't have kids.

As for the other aspects....We live in a society that expects nose to the grindstone all the bloody time. She and I both have the elderly parent problem now but we have had the odd Monday afternoon in a bar saying "yay, we're childfree and can afford this" 🤗 <clink>

Of course go part time if you fancy it and can afford it. I'm planning early retirement too. The number of expenses we don't have is huge. Enjoy!

Money/pension can be a red herring. So long as your income is enough and your pension contributions are enough to acheive what you want and need, then the only reason to work full time to acheive that income level is because you want to. If you can acheive the income you want and need working part time, that is a fortunate position to be in.

If you do it for a bit, you can always go back to full time at some point. A temporary reduction might be good to see how you like it.

Who cares what other people think?

Also join the campaign for a four day week!

Absolutely no negatives from my workplace in a demanding role/sector.

I've found it easier with a consistent day off for people around me, everyone now knows not to schedule meetings that I'm needed for on a Monday. I've been very strict with not being available on a Monday but have shown some flexibility by switching my day off perhaps 3 or 4 times over a year where something couldn't be rescheduled. If anything, I'm more productive at work and my performance this past year has been better, which hasn't gone unnoticed.

I also finished the year with annual leave to carry over, I've needed fewer days off because I have a day free every week for life admin and appointments.

@Hardbackwriter that's a good thought - I don't know, but I could ask. A trial does feel like a smaller leap!

@Ladybirder compressed hours would be an option yes, but I'm not really sold on it if I'm honest... I already work 9-5.30 with an hour commute either side. I could do 30min lunchbreaks rather than working earlier/later, but I really like taking an hour of in the middle of the day to have a break from my laptop!!

@MagpiePi and @EmmaEmerald good points, I think I would feel more justified if I was older! My DM died before she ever got to enjoy a retirement, so I guess I'm very sensitive to the fact I can grind my way planning on having a lovely old age, and not actually make it - so why not enjoy myself whilst I'm healthy enough to do so?

@LightSwerve this is all true. I think my fear is the unknown of "how much will I need later in life, will I look back and think I was an idiot to reduce earnings when I am capable of working FT?". Earnings are enough for now to be sure, but the future is a mystery!

@Cami65 that's good to hear - I do think I'd be more effective as I wouldn't be so ground down by it all the time. Good point about being consistent about timings though so people know to expect my absence!

If you can afford to do it! And look at you both going to 4 days or 4.5 with compressed hours! I know lots of professional people in their 40s on high wages that have gone to 4 days. With all the contributions you'll find it's not a 20% drop in pay. If you're a 40% tax payer, it's taking off what you pay the 40% plus NI etc on, not the part that's your tax free allowance or 20% tax. Lots did the maths and realised how little they lost, particularly taking into account travel costs etc and decided to go for it!

We are older than you op. But both of us have cut our hours although Dh is still full time, I am part time. No one actually cares! Maybe because we are much closer than you to retirement. It does seem to be a more normal thing to do once over 55.

I can’t answer for your financial situation as everyone is different. But we worked all that we could at your age in order to be comfortable now. Although we do have pension provision it isn’t great by any means and we will probably still work pt until we drop dead.

OP I don't know if you'd feel different at say, 50...

I was about to write an essay and stopped myself ....but you know the amount of criticism we get for being childfree.....that tends to kick in with part time work as well, apparently being childfree and part time at 40 means we have too much of a good thing for some people,!!

You are so right, you don't know what life is going to send you. Of course I believe in finance first, but your quality of life matters too.

Otherwise life can vanish into a treadmill of overwhelmed at school, overwhelmed at work, overwhelmed with elderly parents care, overwhelmed by boring life admin...if you can afford to relax a bit and have time to smell the flowers, doesn't matter if you're 20 or 40 or 60. It's a blessing to have that time.

You may well get judgement, but the amount of crappy judgement directed at childfree people anyway... 🤷🏻‍♀️

@EmmaEmerald you're so right. I think I would feel less judgement at 50, it feels almost profligate to start pulling back from 100% effort at 40. But I've worked my ass off to get to a position where it's even an option, so why am I not letting myself benefit from that? And you're right that judgy people will be judging anyway - so I might as well be having fun...! I think overwhelmed is exactly the right word, it feels like I've been on the treadmill my whole life trying to 100% ace everything I do, and I'm not sure it's doing me any favours!

I went part time at the start of this year - it wasn’t a choice for me, I was just burned out with working full time and accruing tons of flexi. Financially it’s scarier because I’m single and responsible for everything, I do feel like I can get out of bed in the morning now!

I’ll be honest, I was judged - most of my team are PT around their kids and I’ve been relied on for years because I’m always ‘there’ - a few of them asked why I needed more time given that “unlike them” I have weekends (?!). Management also tried really hard to convince me not to do it.

So - I guess be prepared for that if you’re at a rubbish employer like I am!

Go part time! Never work more than you need to you won't regret more time to rest see friends or enjoy your hobbies on your death bed.
As long as DH will support you in old age - if you're married you're safe. As you'll probably end up doing a lot of chores and home admin on your day off that he'll benefit from.

You realise you'll get all the snide knowing comments about 'oooh, so you've decided to try for starting a family before it's too late,'?