Half of mothers end up in jobs where you don't even need A levels...makes me so cross

[wheelsonthebus]

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/27/nwork227.xml

Whose is this issue? Is it the employer or the Government? I have taken a back step on my career but that is my personal choice, I could ramp things up if I wanted but it would involve more travelling and less time at home. I don't expect my career to move forward while I'm taking a back step. You do need to devote time and energy to a career and in order to do that you need to be there. When my dd is older I will put in more time and effort but right now she needs me and I am in a luxurious position to be able to work flexibly. This has moved on in leaps and bounds I took a year off and then went back to work flexibly. This was unheard of in my mothers day.

Additionally my dd was critically ill and I was given paid leave for over 4 months and flexible home working options. I for one cannot complain in the slightest.

My career has gone from strength to strength since having my dd..

I think it is a lot about choice and levels of commitment.

I have managed people as a mother and have unfortunately being called unsympathetic towards WOHM needs.. unfortunately in a lot of industries/roles etc job-share just doesn't work (from what I've seen) but this might be spacific to the industry I work in.

also all this flexible working is great for parents but a bloody nightmare to try and manage. So I think you have to always see both sides of the coin.

my career has completely nose dived

I work p/t and earn minimum wage, its crap

but I want to be at the school gates for my kids and at home during the hols and this is the only job I can get

Absolutely agree. At the end of the day a company needs to make a profit. If you make it too difficult for an employer to manage they wont recruit women.

I think far too much emphasis is placed on higher education these days.

I've always been happy to take low paid jobs even before I had ds. All that commitment to work stuff makes me shudder.

Mine nose dived simply because the industry I worked in was totally unsuitable for a mother.

I did not feel bitter as I understood, and have adapted what I do. I earn a small amount which just tops up DH's earnings (I know I am lucky in this respect)
But I find it hard sometimes , especially when I have a deadline and something comes up with the DC.

My career came to a halt after my 4th child but that was because I chose to be a full-time sahm despite the company I was with being as accommodating and supportive as it could be.
My sister stayed home until her youngest went to school and then picked up her career again which has gone from strength to strength.

If you want flexibility then you have to consider what jobs fit with that. You can always work for yourself. I think you need to be innovative and driven. Not expect a high paid local, flexible part time job to materialise out of thin air.

juule- totally and we were lucky in that we could make that choice.
Dh gave up a career to be at SAHD when I went back to work as my earning potential was so much greater, then he decided to go back when I went on mat leave with DD.

When I was working the company I worked for had a HUGE problem with recruitment and was relying on agency at huge cost to the comapny, one of my roles was ro cut agency costs. Time and time again I went to the board with the idea of changing the shift patterns to incorporate SAHM, as far as I was concerned there was a whole work force out there.
Eventually I was given a small patch to 'test' this idea, so I advertised locally and in JC aiming at SAHM, I changed the shift patterns and set up a bank staff pool.
While it didn't solve the problem entirely we recruited many people, the agency bill was reduced and people were able to work around school times.

I agree with you Rebelmum1 and MOH. There are industries and organisations and types of work in which it wouldn't work. It is hard for small firms and it does make a manager's job more complicated.

I know you are a single parent MOH and I respect you for holding down a full-time job. It IS about choice and levels of commitment. I suppose if you are doing the same job as your colleagues, who are not parents, why should you/one get any special favours?

But, I do feel nevertheless that there is prejudice against working mothers and that we are still working to an outdated paradigm. There is scope for more flexible working but it is not implemented because of the above factors.

A lot of people seem to start up their own business which they can manage from home, in order to get the flexibility that they need.

That's exactly what we need, Pedilia. More people to offer those flexible hours. IMO, it is short-sighted of employers not to consider it (where appropriate).

I agree, they outsource to cheaper places but don't realise many people would want to work from home doing just the same jobs. In most call centres etc these days it is all computer system based so it would make little difference if you are at home or in an office.

They do. I work flexibly in a male dominated company and industry. I don't think it's something you can just demand. It has to work commercially.

I had a team of 6 once 4 of them were part-time, they all had been allowed different working patterns.. trying to arrange holiday cover and team meetings was almost impossible.

I wonder what it's like for women who aren't highly-qualified or have a profession when they return to work then (ie, me)

my employer is fantastic with regards to HR related stuff - work/life balance, compressed hours etc.

fantastic - they are a benchmark i think.

Skyatnight - the one piece of advice I would give to any new mother is, if you can possibly manage it, keep a foot in the workplace, even if it is a very part time one.

My kids are 5 and 8 and I have seen so many of my friends give good jobs up thinking they can pick it up once the kids start school. None of them have managed to do this, not one. I have kept working, sometimes very part time, using flexitime etc. I am now in a senior position where I work from home at least a day a week and have flexible start and finish times to be able to drop and collect from school some days.

I also have had a very supportive DH who has done part time and flexible working too. I take my hat off to you working single parents, I really do.

I agree it is a lot easier to keep a good job - and negotiate family-friendly working - if you go back to work after you've had a child. Much harder to give up for a few years and then get a job that fits in with school hours, etc but is on a par with your previous career...

I went back to work after my first dc and my employer (and especially line manager) was very supportive - and I worked in a male-dominated industry. It probably helped that lots of the men I worked with had children and wives who worked!

I am hoping to go back to work part-time soon but realise that yes, the jobs I am looking at I could have done 25 years ago...

I agree with skyatnight - it is a big myth that certain types of job/profession can only be carried out by one person, in an office, full-time (or rather, 5/7 days instead of, say, 3 or 4!).

I also think that you don't realise until your kids are older that in many ways it is easier to work when they are younger, with the caveat that you have good and affordable childcare options. Once your kids are at school and you have to take drop off and pick up times and holidays into account it all begins to feel a lot harder.

Hence the number of women on here looking for the mythical 'school hours, term time only' jobs.

That is true, Iris.

You either need to have family or other unpaid local backup to bail you out in times of need AND/OR you somehow work it out between your partner/husband and you AND/OR you need to be earning enough to pay for a variety of childminders, holiday clubs, au-pair, etc.. AND/OR a combination. I just have fewer options than most.

Re. part-time workers on different shifts, I know there is flexitime, which could complicate matters, but, other than that, most people want either am or pm or school hours or non-school-hours (husband at home looking after the kids in evenings and weekend, allowing wife to go out to work). It doesn't seem that complicated to manage to me.

I used to have a reasonably well paid career, but gave it up when my elder ds started school.

Both my boys are now at school and I am applying for P/T office jobs at a much lower salary because I don't want to commit to F/T and would struggle to do my former job on a P/T basis.

I don't think women often realise the damage a career break does to their career. How it can be next to impossible to get back in. It seems (I may be wrong) easier if you're in one of the professions.

I knew that I was burning my boats when I left my career, but I felt that it was the right thing to do at the time, in fact I wasn't planning on ever working again ( I'm an older mother so have already worked for donkeys years)