I am trying to work four days a week whilst also looking after/"educating" DD (8). Work is full-on and I'm at the mercy of bosses and clients so can't really arrange it to suit myself, and as DD is an only child she's pretty reliant on me for company and attention (and is a fairly demanding child anyway!). DH is around, but unfortunately he is an alcoholic which as you can imagine doesn't make for the easiest situation in any case. He's not drinking at the moment so is helping out but I'm scared about this changing (he's aware of this and saying the right things but at the end of the day alcoholism is not exactly rational or logical) and I'm worried about how I will cope with work if the worst happens.
I have been seriously considering the possibility of asking my boss if I can be furloughed but am worried this will send out a negative message (i.e. can't be bothered to work, not that arsed about keeping my job etc.) which isn't the case. We are a small-ish company (c. 30 people) and they have already furloughed three of us. Financially it wouldn't be great for me as I earn over the £30k threshold so would get less than 80%, but I have savings and other income sources so it wouldn't be the end of the world either for a few months. I just don't want to jeopardise my job in the longer term and am concerned going on furlough may make me at greater risk of redundancy further down the line. Also judging by my last review I'm on the brink of promotion, so not a good time to not appear committed... but on the other hand if I'm not able to do my job to the best of my ability in this situation that won't look great either. Just interested in what people think about the idea.