JOB- WHAT DO PEOPLE ACTUALLY DO?

[GReD677]

I haven't worked in around 3 years, eldest is 3 youngest is 18months.
Really want to get back to work 2 days a week, I do feel a bit selfish but just feel like i need to for my own wellbeing.

My eldest is going to school next year Septemeber 2027 and needing something that allows me to pick her up drop her off and have half terms off.

I did a online L3 TA course last year and passed took around a year but I am just not sure I want to do that job, seen so many bad things about how TA's get treated and expecting far too much, unless my daughter actually attends the school were i would he working in still will not be able to drop her off and pick her up.
Im thinking of cleaning - can be flexable and choose own hours but i clean my place all day every day and just would be exhausting!

What do people actually do?!

They pay for wrap around care. And don't have children within a year of each other, that is an obvious choice that will make your life harder and much more expensive in the short term.

We work flexi time jobs (we share drop offs and collections)and pay for afterschool club where necessary.

I thought this was a group about supporting, advice and guidance!
Not judgment and rudeness.
I understand wrap around care that was not my questions my question was what job do people do that fit around their children.

Whats flexi time jobs? I don't have the support of someone else doing so :( x.

We both work 9-5 in pharma.

Accountant and use wrap around care.

Share it out with my DH. eg one starts early, one starts later. It does depend on length of commute though. We did use wraparound but only three days a week which was a great balance.

Basically, our start time is 8 o’clock, but we can start at any time between eight and nine. We just have to make it up at some stage. So what we do is we drop the DC to School at 8:15 and get into work for 8:30 and then generally work through my lunch break or I logon at 7 o’clock and do a half hour then. It basically just means that the start and end times of the day are a bit more flexible.

Jobs in HE.

Working in computer programming from home, I do part time hours to match school hours and holidays we use holiday clubs in the local area.
It's always a juggle, no time to yourself, and if your kids are off sick a lot it would cause an issue (lucky ours aren't)

There is no judgment in my reply. It's fact. You can't magic up free childcare.

And there really aren't a lot of jobs with those kinds of hours. Vast majority of people work 9-5 or, even worse, shifts (try being a nurse with 12 hour+ shifts).

Most people don't try to magic a job that is shorter than school hours, they either give up and stay home or pay for wrap around.

2 days a week school hour term time jobs are pretty limited OP, if you can find a cleaning job that’s fine with your restrictions I’d snap it up. Playground supervisor or school catering may also work. If you are a single parent I’d bite the bullet though and start focusing on a career again

By saying dont have children withina year of eachother that an obvious choice is rude.
I did not ask to magical a job up i was curious about what people do that fits around their children.

I work part time in marketing. I do 15 hours a week, over 3 days during term time, but I have the flexibility where I can work my 15 hours over 2 days during the school holidays - meaning we only pay for 2 days of holiday clubs a week during the holidays.
I will caveat this with that I think I've lucked out with my boss though. He doesn't care if I have a "school thing" to go to on my work days, he knows and trusts that I will do what's needed for the business and he's quite happy for me to do extra hours during term time and then bank my additional hours to take time off during the school holidays.
I've never had a role with this degree of flexibility before, but it does mean I won't entertain working anywhere else!

I did a call centre type job when DD was younger. Worked 9-5 4 days a week and paid a child minder to do school pick ups and drop offs. In the school holidays I used a combination of annual leave, child minder, and holiday clubs.

I’m a carer on a zero hours contract so I agree my hours with my employer around what childcare I have

Did not know you can zero hour contracts anymore defo something for me to think about!

What is the demand for cleaners like in your area? Being self employed, choosing your clients, choosing your hours, choosing your rate of pay. I did this for the best part of 10yrs when mine were young. It’s so hard to juggle everything.

I do sympathise . I felt the same when my daughter turned 4. I had been a SAHM up to that point but wanted to get back out there . I started as a lunchtime supervisor in a primary school. It allowed me to do pick ups drops offs and be home during school holidays . It was a good stepping stone back into work. I lasted a year before I realised I hated working with children ( behaviour was atrocious ). A volunteer place become available at a local charity , one that I had supported since the start. I started doing that once a week ,just to keep me sane and busy , and then after a year I was offered a part time job there and I havnt looked back since. I was lucky that I was able to negotiate my hours so I only work weekdays and I was home well before the school run. I was also able to take my DD to work with me in the holidays which she loved . Maybe it’s worth looking to see if there’s any volunteering roles in your area ? Maybe it can get your foot in the door somewhere .

I will say that I found being a working parent a very great deal more difficult than I ever ever imagined.

First 5 years or so we both worked full time (accountant and I worked for an international organisation and traveled hard). We were both older parents and DH was heading for retirement in the next decade or so.

DH went very part time for a while. Then I had a career break for a few years after having a breakdown. Then we both went back to work full time when the DCs were older. Then DH retire properly thank god and I continued on in a high pressure job for another 4 years.

Now he is retired, I work on an extremely temporary basis. We manage to hold it together. But barely. We are tireder, much much poorer and nothing over the past 17 years really worked out the way we planned for!

I'm in an office co-ordinator role, working 9-5pm. Used a childminder before DD started school and now use wrap-around clubs.

What did you do before the children OP? I find generally for non shift work employers are quite flexible but obviously wrap around care necessary most of the time. I work with a lady on a flexible work arrangement, she does 50% and works 9-3 3 days a week. But she had been in the job a while before agreeing it. I'm in financial services

Obviously there are big disadvantages too- no guaranteed hours- the family is going away for 2 weeks and I won’t be paid as I’m not working, no sick pay etc. but it works for me. Obviously it will really depend on your employer though and your relationship with them. Mine knew at interview that the hours needed to work around me childcare, she is happy with any evenings as long as they are agreed in advance. So a month ahead I look at what childcare I have and we discuss the days I can do and book in what she needs.
Special schools local to me use some bank staff- might be worth looking into?

Midday meals supervisors always seem to be needed around here so that’s a good idea

Ive heard adverts saying amazon offers term time jobs, no idea what sort of jobs/hours they are