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Original poster

Why do people work part time ? I've never understood it...

540 replies

mozhe · 17/05/2007 00:45

I never have, but lots of colleagues in NHS did....you end up doing 3/4 of the work for 1/2 the salary, and get passed over in the promotion stakes...And have you noticed that it's nearly always women who do this ? Why ? I actively discourage junior staff from doing this but lots seem to....

OP posts:
speedymama · 17/05/2007 09:10

I work part-time because I want to spend time with my DTS who are now 3yo. It also allows me to keep paying into my pension and salary wise, I have not been affected in terms of pay rises. I have also been given senior projects to manage in preference to men who are working full time because of my ability. As a scientist, working part-time means that I can keep up to date with developments in my area of interest.
In addition, I have more time to indulge in my personal interests.

I work mainly with men and some of them work part-time too. Would the OP be critical of them also?

In addition, companies tend to show very little loyalty to their staff when they undergo restructuring so imo, why sacrifice your personal life for them?

Finally, when I am on my death bed, I know that I will be wishing that I did more with my family, not that I spent more time at work.

berolina · 17/05/2007 09:14

I work PT because we can't afford to do without my salary and I did not want to carry on working FT as I did in my last job. I could work from home a lot of the time, admittedly, but the work just spilled everywhere and I had no real, clearly demarcated work-free zone. I did everything I could to spend lots of time with ds but hated it. In my new job I do my hours and that's it. PT in my old job would have ended up 3/4 of thze work for 1/2 of the salary, as the OP says, because the people and culture there were likely to have abused the situation.

berolina · 17/05/2007 09:14

hated the work situation, not hated spending time with ds!!!!!

fannyannie · 17/05/2007 09:19

ermm for me it was because it was enough to cover the bills we needed to pay - and it meant that it didn't intrude too much on normal family routine......

rookiemum · 17/05/2007 09:22

Don't get Mozhes point at all.

I work p/t and work exactly the hours I am paid to do.

I keep my hand in and retain my final salary pension and I get a break from my DS but I get to drop and pick him up from the C/Ms at a reasonable hour.

I enjoy my work and get round reduced hours by being highly efficient, not getting involved in stuff that doesn't meet my teams core objectives and not getting involved in office chit chat.Slightly disconcerted to find out from a recent publication at our work that only 2.0% of the part timers are at my grade. I know I am not going to be promoted for the next few years, but in the future I still have the option of going f/t again. Whats not to like about being p/t ?

Chelseamum · 17/05/2007 10:17

bumpity bump

titchy · 17/05/2007 10:23

Chelseamum - it's because she has 6 kids that she works full time!

winniepoo · 17/05/2007 10:30

I work in the nhs and have a 21 month old son. I had a year off maternity then returned 18 hrs a week split into 3 twighlight shifts. This means I get to spend every day with my lo, don't have to work nights and still earn above £700 per month which without my family would struggle. My childcare arrangements are easy - dh and the grandparents and I don't regret my decision at all.
I would hate to work full time - for me I think what is the point of having children if you can't bring them up yourself ( although I do appreciate not everybody has the luxury of being able to work part time and for them I feel really sorry).
promotion is not important to me - I am more of a worker bee and would hate then extra responsibility - my job is stresfull enough.
Personally I think you should be supportive of your junior staff if they wish to return part time. Quite frankly once you have children for many work really is no longer a priority and you work to live not live to work and this is the way it should be. Without the support of my managers I would of found returning to work very difficult and probably would of left the nhs and my career for a child friendly alternative and that would be a complete waste of my skills and experience.

MaloryTowers · 17/05/2007 10:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bosscat · 17/05/2007 10:35

I work P/T because when I tried it full time my entire life was about work. It dominated my every thought, and the balance at this stage in my life with 2 very small children felt wrong. Working P/T meant I could keep my hand in with work before I'm ready to go back full time and yet have 2 days a week to switch off and give to my children. its a really stupid thread in my opinion because the answers are so blindingly obvious.

I do work more than my hours and so therefore get paid less than the full timers but the way I reason it out is that my employers are fantastic with me about my hours, days, any sick days, emergencies, I can pretty much be as flexible as I want and I get it back in other more meaningful ways than money. and part time stimulating well paid jobs are rarer than hens teeth so I'd be mad not to take advantage of that whilst I can.

bosscat · 17/05/2007 10:36

but I'd work full time if I had 6 kids

cylonbabe · 17/05/2007 10:38

i completley agree withthe original poster.

hatwoman · 17/05/2007 10:38

what a daft question.

BreeVanDerCamp · 17/05/2007 10:45

CylonBabe

I thought you wanted a P/T job, to give you some financial independence from your H.

Gingerbear · 17/05/2007 10:50

Because there is more to life than work. Because I am lucky enough not to have to work full time to make ends meet.

What is the alternative? Parents burning out trying to be the superwoman/man working full time, 'having it all', juggling childcare and feeling guilty?
Employers spend a great deal of money and time training skilled people, if they don't offer good flexible work arrangements for parents, then they risk them leaving and all that investment in training people is wasted. The more we press for flexible working (be it part time or otherwise) the better our lives will become.

Gobbledigook · 17/05/2007 10:57

What an odd question!

To me it's perfectly logical - work life balance!

I've got time to

Work and earn money
Take my children to school, pick them up and do after school activities
Get involved in school - helping in the classroom, PTA committee member
Do shopping and errands during the week with no children in tow and when it's less busy
Gym/exercise during the day
Go for lunch with friends if I want to
Have evenings free to spend with dh or go out with friends because I'm not trying to cram jobs in - I've done them all in the day!

Tis a no brainer methinks!

Gobbledigook · 17/05/2007 10:58

God Malory - were we separated at birth or what?!

MaloryTowers · 17/05/2007 10:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Gobbledigook · 17/05/2007 11:00

Oh, I'm actually freelance though so I choose what work I take on and what I don't. I take the school holidays off completely if I want to. If I don't want to overload myself, it's entirely up to me. My daily rate is much, much bigger than it would be if I was employed.

Gobbledigook · 17/05/2007 11:01

i did - the bracelets are gorgeous!! The websites I looked at were really slow though - or else I'd probably have ended up buying!

MaloryTowers · 17/05/2007 11:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

KTeePee · 17/05/2007 11:02

I do think it depends on what ages your children are (for a parent) - when I went back to work after dd was born I went full time, mainly because I'd been promoted 3 weeks before I went on maternity leave and I wanted to have a good shot at doing the new job but I also knew that if I went part-time I'd end up doing all the work anyway for less money (they didn't even hire anyone to cover for me properly while I was on maternity leave) plus we needed the money.... because dd was not at school it didn't particularly matter that I worked full days, from a practical point of view (though obviously there were a lot of times I wished I could have spent more time at home with her).

Now that I have school-age children (and am a sahm) I think both I and the rest of the family would find it very hard, purely from a practical point of view alone, if I went back to work full-time. I am hoping to get part-time term-time only work when the youngest starts school but don't know how easy that would be....

PavlovtheCat · 17/05/2007 11:06

I will be working part time once my request has been dealt with, as I cannot afford to quit completely.
I get paid the same proportion of my salary as my work, ie 0.5 hours for 0.5 of the pay. However, I will actually be better off, as I will pay less tax, NI, Pension overall (admittdedly it will only be like £5.00 pm better off!)
I agree with the work to live, not live to work sentiments. I want to be a huge part of my child's upbringing.

Gobbledigook · 17/05/2007 11:07

Yep, harder when they are at school - dealing with school things is a ft job itself!!

I've only got one in school yet - God help me when all 3 are in. Will be a logistical nightmare!

OrmIrian · 17/05/2007 11:10

bozza - I'm not sure I understand what you meant by this "I don't get this argument about only working part time because of childcare not making it worthwhile". I have 2 school age kids so for me to work full-time would not require paid childcare between 9 and 3 for 39 weeks of the year, but I would need childcare before and after school as well as full-time for my youngest. So in those circumstances full-time would cost me more. FWIW I worked full-time until DD (middle child ) went to school. My hourly rate and all other benefits remain the same pro-rata.