Has anyone ever regretted going part time?

[ColdMeatPlatter]

Hi everyone, I am/was so thrilled when my flexible working application was approved and I'm reducing my hours from 37.5 to 31 over 5 days (for a 6 month trial initially). The idea being that I can pick ds1 up from school when he starts primary in September. (He is 4 in June, ds2 had turned 1). Financially it's going to be a stretch but I figured we'll just have to cut our cloth. My manager has been so supportive and helpful, but recently she has said things like she feels the children are too young to feel the benefit of my part time hours, all I'll do is clean the house more and that my pension will basically be worth nothing! (Nhs). Over the last few weeks I really have been doubting my decision. I want to be there for my children, this way I hope they'll barely know I'm working. I was raised by a sahm and loved it and although I would never (could never!) give up work entirely it's important to me that I have contact with the teachers, that it's me getting stuck into homework and just hearing about their day. But will they thank me for it? Would I better off earning a couple of hundred more per month and looking at things 5 years down the line? I'm so nervous and I don't know why! Im frightened of not being taken seriously at work, that ill be seen as a skiver for walking out at 2pm. My career is important to me but not as important as my children.
I don't know what I'm looking for really. Is it normal to feel this way? Does anyone have any experiences to share? Am I doing the right thing?? Has anyone done it and ultimately regretted it?

My career is important to me but not as important as my children.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Hi,

I work for the NHS too. I went part time in 2005 after my first child was born as we had no family help with childcare. We had to use a day nursery at a costly price! It seemed pointless to pay out for childcare 5 days a week and not have much time with my child. I went down to 2.5 days. It wasn't worth working everyday and finishing at 2pm as I had travel costs to factor in too. It was cheaper for me to do 2.5 days (I worked the opposite end of the week to another mum who returned to work at the same time as me). My salary halved and I paid out £600 in nursery fees so it was heart breaking sometimes.

Things were fine at work though. I had always had a good relationship with managers at this point and was not treated unfairly. They had known me from being a trainee.

However, in 2008, I had a 2nd child (had to have fertility treatment for 2nd). Again, took a year off and returned to the same hours. Management had retired and we had a complete overhaul of leadership. It was not the same. They had no idea of what a good worker I was, when full time (I used to work over and above my contract) and I always felt I was treated as a mum iyswim. I was never kept up to date with goings on and changes. They hired 3 other people while I was away (one to do the role I had been doing for years, with no complaints) and I felt 'pushed out'. As a result, I resigned after a year back (I had worked there for years) from maternity leave and went to another trust. I was distraught but that is life. I think it was just bad timing on my part (but, they were unaware of my lengthy fertility treatment).
You do feel at a disadvantage against full time colleagues so I will warn you of that. However, as your sentence above states...children are more important. Be careful that they don't make you do a full time role in those hours as it has happened to a colleague of mine. She works 30 hours but has the exact same workload as someone doing 37.5 hrs.
As for pension, I checked mine a few weeks ago and was surprised how good it was considering I have been part time for ten years. I was quite happy with it.
My eldest starts secondary this year so I am in a position to go full time again. I have learned to cope with less income and it isn't too bad. I am not sure whether to go FT or not. I would rather just step in and do extra hours if someone was off sick/maternity. Will see.
School can be quite demanding time wise. My year 6 boy gets homework most nights and, as he is level 6 for maths, he gets extra to the others. I make sure he knows how to do it so it can be time consuming. And, of course, there are assemblies to attend etc. You may want to condense hours and have a day or 2 off each week. What will you do for childcare in the holidays?

Oh, and no, I didn't regret going part time!

I have worked 80% hours over 5 days ever since my DD was born, now 4 yo. The only issue for me is that I feel a little bit stuck in my job - it's hard to move while maintaining part time. Also, nothing has been cut from my job description so it is a lot of stress to maintain the same performance with the lower hours. But I simply couldn't manage full time hours and look after my DD properly - full time I would have to get someone to pick her up from school or childcare. I can manage financially so no regrets. Also because I am 'almost' full time I still feel fully present for my job. For me it's a good combination that works well, and honestly I'll probably never go back to full time.

It's rubbish that you'll just clean the house more. You might indeed not spend much more 'quality' time with your children but the time you have with them (even if cleaning!) will be more relaxed than if you are rushing in and getting them straight into bed of an evening.

I'm part-time NHS too (AHP). I work 2.5 days. The 0.5 day is a faff & I wish I worked 3 days. I have 2 DC, a 2 year old & a 6 year old.

I haven't regretted it; it is the norm in my profession to be p/t after maternity leave, although our head of service doesn't like part-timers & doesn't support it particularly well.

I do worry about my pension, as I use childcare vouchers, which reduces my taxable pay. With the new career-average earnings scheme starting in April, I am concerned.

Over the next year or two, I'll aim to increase my hours to 3-4 days.

I do feel like I miss out on a lot at work though; development meetings are often held on days I don't work, or parts of the service run on my non-working days. I am band 7 & have no plans for further progression though.

With my first child I worked full time because. When I had my second after a long gap of 12 years I initially worked full time but changed to part time (17.5 hrs) quite quickly. I had a high pressured job and was doing drop off and pick ups each day because my partner couldn't. It was just too much.

I love being being part time. I take the youngest to school each day and pick up on three days. We can do play dates and after school activities. My career though has totally stalled. From being high flying (within my sector) I've not managed to progress any further even though I'm a really skilled and competent worker. I'm not taken seriously and have been passed over for promotion in favour of people with much less experience and skills. I also worry about my pension.

Thank you so much for all your thoughts. In school holidays my mum will have them. She is my childminder now, I do pay her and I know how lucky I am to have her. I also plan to use my leave in school holiday time only if I can. Hoping not to need much outside of school holidays.
I'm an ahp too. I don't have work home with me and I sold it to management by saying I could offer lunchtime appointments to patients, therefore reducing dna rates. There really won't be an opportunity for me to fit 37.5 hours work in with how our clinics are set up. Ill be working 8.30-2 4 days, and 8.30-6 on one day. My commute is about 10 minutes so thanks transport costs weren't an issue. I'm band 6 but there is very little room for progression upwards. I'm also doing Part time msc so hopefully should sonething come up in the future that will stand in my favour. Ive also been given tve impression that if i decide to make this permanant i wont get an Opportunity to go ft again. I know this is ridiculous, there isnt much movement in our trust to be fair but there are bound to be full toms roles coming up over the years once tbr kids are bigget. Looking forward to trying this now again :) and ill just bury my head in the sand re my pension
Thanks again x

Of course there will be full time roles in the future! Always is!

I worked part time while my children were pre school age and don't regret it one bit. It definitely felt like the best of both worlds when the children are little. A full time opportunity arose When the youngest was 4 and I took it, which I've never regretted either. My pension is significantly lower than dh's simply because of those part time years, and if I'd stayed part time longer, It would have hit it massively. I also don't think for a moment I would have had the opportunities I've had in my career.

It's a tricky one though because logistically the childcare becomes harder when the children start school. A lot cheaper, as you're not paying all day all year round, just before/ after school and school hols. However, looking back I have absolutely no regrets about being part time when the children were tiny and equally no regrets about stepping back up to full time

I regret going part time after ds1. I lost a lot of ground and the chap doing my maternity cover was able to basically take over some of my job. I am now going back full time after ds2 and am really happy about getting most of my job back, feeling like I can apply for other FT jobs if they arise etc etc. I am lucky though to have changed my start time so I will begin really early with the aim of collecting the kids from school