Full time vs Part Time

[Kaybump]

Hi all, I'm new to this so please forgive!
Baby not due until end of Nov 2011 so I do still have time to think about this but I've been stressing myself out.
I currently work full time (37.5 Hours a week) and live with my partner who also works full time, when I return to work after maternity leave I want to go back part time but am so worried we won't be able to afford it?! Has anyone any tips? Is it better to go back and do less than 16hours a week? or should I go back and do 22hours a week or 30?!
I don't claim anything at the minute, have no idea what, if anything we are entitled to and would love to go back to work and do as least hours as possible while my baby is a baby!
Help!!
Thanks

I found that life was quite a lot cheaper once I had a baby, due to not ever going out in the evenings, buying very few new clothes (no point as baby was being sick on me all the time) and not going on overseas holidays or even away for the weekend apart from to our parents! Clothes and stuff for the baby are easy to get second hand or free from friends. So what you think you can afford now and what you will actually need might be different, and economies can definitely be made.

I work 3 days (22.5 hours) and that works well for me, enough to feel I'm properly at work but also that I am with my son more days than not.

I love my job, but I know that I will want to be with baby more days than I'm at work! I have no problem giving up the luxuries, not that we are that well off to have any! I just don't want to end up doing more work and get less money and end up worse in the long run?! There's so much to think about! How did you find going back to work after mat leave?

Hi there - when i returned from mat leave i did 21 hours a week over 3 days, it was fantastic, i had half the week being career girl with normal conversation and loo breaks when i wanted then half the week spending precious time with DS.

The only reason i went full time is because we are saving up for potential DC2, as soon as that plan hatches - i am going back to working 3 days after mat leave.

I really dont like working full time - i am fine when i am at work and DS is loving nursery but the downsides are that i am losing out on my time with him and he is shattered by Friday. On the plus side our weekends are extra precious and we do things more. Not to mention the extra cash we have (i would rather be with DS tho)

So there are pros and cons but i can definitely recommend working 3 days a week if you can afford it. Ask your HR dept what your salary would be and do the sums - working out childcare and salary etc over 3 days 4 days or 5 (you should see the spreadsheets we have just for this purpose!) Dont forget things like Childcare Vouchers (tax break - it saves us about £140 between us per month) and Working Families Tax Credits.

Hopefully i wont be working full time for long

I went back to work 3 days a week (22.5 hours - NHS!) after having ds1.

When I was expecting ds2, I increased that to 4 days a week (30 hours).

I have to say that the extra day of work threw everything else off. I felt that I didn't have enough time with ds1, I didn't have enough time to keep the house in order, cook nice meals everything really. 3 days feels like the balance is right - I'm at work enough (just) to keep up to date with everything, but still have 4 days to do family and home things.

Thanks everyone! I definatley do not want to do any more than three days! If I go back 9-5 that will be 22.5 hours, or 9-3 is 16.5 hours. Im just so confused as to what help I can get once baby is born- working tax etc I dont claim anything at the moment as I said there just seems so much to know and so many forms! Its daunting! Where/ when do you start?! I suppose the good thing with my job is I have the option of doing bank when I go back so I can do extra shifts!

Dont worry - it is all a bit overwhelming but when you have the baby your Bounty pack has info on benefits IIRC. The main ones you want to be claiming are Child Benefit and Working Families Tax Credit. I think the claim form for one of them was in the Hospital Bounty pack - if not there are info leaflets.

BTW the hospital Bounty pack is fab! Lots of useful goodies

I work 17.5 hours a week, 2 long days and a half day. I would really stress taking into account your commute time ( I'm lucky mine is 10 min) so if you finish work at 5, your dc will go to bed about 630 if they are knackered from nursery so will that be enough for you 5 days a week?

Also child care costs, opening times etc are a big factor.

Also the mummy friends you make on mat leave will prob end up meeting mid week for activities, so your socialising may suffer. You may feel out of the loop? Sounds bizarre now but I met my mummy friends when dd was 3 months and 18 months later we are all so close!

MrsV i found that my mummy friends all tended to do similar days/hours when they went back to work. Some of us went back full time and still manage to meet up on the odd weekend with the bubs' (and nights out too )