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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:
gess · 17/05/2007 14:30

I would never call working 5 12 hour days a week (travelling on top?) a good work-life balance. DH works something like that, and he doesn't call it a good work-life balance either. I wouldnt see that as leaving me much time to spend with the children - my children go to bed at 7.30pm and are up at 7am, so I'd see them for oooh half an hour a day Mon-Friday. Given a choice I would never choose that.

I also don't have other people who can look after ds1, and there is no suitable out of school childcare for him in my city (hes severely autistic).

Pollyanna · 17/05/2007 14:30

wasn't there a story in the papers yesterday about some high powered fund-manager woman who has just had her 8th child ?

I dont' know why xenia, mozhe et al need to always question why men don't go part time instead of women. We aren't forced to go part-time - I personally think it is the best of both worlds. I am working part time because I want to (I know I'm lucky there) not because I am pushed into it by dh working fulltime. He would like to be at home some of the time too, but we can't afford that.

although I query how it can be a good balance to go back to work 2 weeks after a baby is born, I agree with pph, we all do what is best for us and our families, and alot of us don't have the choice. whether we work or not doesn't (imo) make us a good or bad role model for our children.

Aloha · 17/05/2007 14:32

It's usually because they actively enjoy spending time with their children. You really don't need to be that clever to work it out for yourself.

ScottishMummy · 17/05/2007 14:33

mozhe- is it not that individuals choice whether FT or PT and i would have thought NHS was happy to retain skilled staff, and offer family friendly contract, compressed hours etc

lots of invaluable NHS staff work lots of patterns eg annualised hours PT compressed hours, and good luck to them i say

i work NHS as a clinical specialist and i have not been overlooked

all NHS staff make a valued, bloody hard contribution for not too much dosh esp HCA staff imo

gess · 17/05/2007 14:33

xenia and mohze will never understand that some mothers actually want to spend more than half an hour a day with their child, and so if they have the choice they do. I'm staggered that they find that so odd really.

Aloha · 17/05/2007 14:34

I tend to think - and I know this will annoy people - that what seems like a lot of time at the end of the day, isn't really in terms of the child's day.
I think Rosie Boycott, when she got fired from the Express, wrote a feature about it, in which she said that when she worked f/t she always vaguely thought that because she didn't work late very often she got home roughtly at the same time as her daughter. Discovering how far from the truth that was was a real eye-opener for her.

WhoBuiltTheArkNoahNoah · 17/05/2007 14:35

i saw he in court on her durnk dirving hting

Aloha · 17/05/2007 14:35

My dh does work part time from home, actually, just as I do.

Blackduck · 17/05/2007 14:37

Agree re ime - I see ds for about an hour in the morning, and then poss an hour and a half , max two, at night. In the morning we are trying to get ready to go out, and in the evening its tea, baths etc...so if you actually added up 'contact' time (for want of a better phrase...) it wouldn't be much....

Chelseamum · 17/05/2007 14:39

What do you do exactly?

I am a freelance tv producer and my hubby is in the city. I CAN assure that we work full time and that we are at work all the time- socialising, in my industry and hubbys, is a must... we MUST entertain clients and big fishes, so yeah we are at work all the time.

7AMx7PM
It will be lovely if you could explain how working 7am to 7pm leaves you lots of time with your children.

BUT other people can help look after them
my love, great point but NOT LOTS OF PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY AFFORD IT!! HOW CAN YOU NOT GET THAT!
Xenia, you , me can afford it but lots of other families CAN'T! Even parents who work ' full time ' aren't actually at work all the time....yesOur aim in our family has always been to get a good balance between work/home*
That my love is everyone's aim!

edam · 17/05/2007 14:41

If I had five children, I think I'd be very keen to work full-time just to have the opportunity to go to the loo on my own occasionally.

Maybe Mozhe tries to discourage junior staff because she's seen the impact of discrimination against part-timers. Who, overall, are paid less per hour than their full-time colleagues, overlooked for promotion, etc. etc. Clearly what we should be doing is fighting for a fair deal, but I guess Mozhe isn't responsible for that.

(I work part time but I'm freelance, so no promotion/ holiday/ sick pay etc. etc. etc.)

Original poster
mozhe · 17/05/2007 14:42

Suejones...You are right I do think people may be misguided, that is why I take an interest in the whole area of part time working...Your situation is a little more unusual,( and lovely..I've read your blog, congrats ), but where there are 2 parents involved,( even if they live apart ),then I believe it is best for women and families as a whole to try to achieve a better balance in which parent/carer does the ' contact ' caring...
Those comments are uncalled for speedymama...these are MY opinions I do share them with others but why wouldn't I ?
Back to medical students now...but will check latter !

OP posts:
Aloha · 17/05/2007 14:43

I think she discourages them because it isn't what she does, therefore must be wrong.

ScottishMummy · 17/05/2007 14:43

winniepoo make a good point about NHS staff - its great we can retain skilled staff like her winnie i salute u

Hulababy · 17/05/2007 14:45

I think the time issue is a biggie.

On my one full day at work I see DD: 15 mins in morning; 2 hours in the evening = 2.5hrs
On my two PT days I see DD: 15 mins in morning; 4 hours in evening = 4.5hrs
On my two non work days I see DD: 1hr in morning; 4 hours in eveing = 5hrs

So my working PT I see DD for 21.5 hours during the week.

If I worked FT I would see her for just 12.5 hours, which is not much time IMO and probably more than others anyway as I finish pretty early on a full day as it is.

Aaaarrrrggggghhhhh · 17/05/2007 14:45

Not sure what you would class me as, Lol, I work full time but only term time!!!

Why...'cos it suits me and my family and quite frankly in MY life thats all that matters

Aloha · 17/05/2007 14:46

Anyone who would actively choose to leave a two week old baby to go back to work full time clearly defines 'plenty of time' in a very different way to most mothers.

Cammelia · 17/05/2007 14:46

The life-work pattern as described by Mohze below translates in my mind into an exercise in stress. I'm exhausted just reading about it.

chocolateteapot · 17/05/2007 14:46

I absolutely love working part time, had to go back to my last job full time when DD was 6 months old and we all had a horrible time. I've now chosen to work for myself so I can pretty much chose my own hours. DH works 4 days a week and has no intention working 5 days if he can help it having been in a job where he was working ridiculous hours.

Life is so much better now that I have no intention of ever working full time again if I can help it, and feel very lucky that we are currently in the situation where neither of us need to work full time.

Hulababy · 17/05/2007 14:47

It would not be sensible in my situtation for DH and I to share the ad work and the child care. To start with he earns much more than I do, and also it is much harder for him to work PT in his chosen career and current job role. Plus I want to be PT, spending that extra time with DH. Work is not important to me; it is a means of earning cash. To DH work is more improtant than that so makes sense for him tor emain FT and me PT.

gess · 17/05/2007 14:48

7-7, 5 days a week- you don't sound remotely like you have a good balance at all to me. It's certainly not something I would aspire to whilst I have children at home.

In what way do you think people are misguided, for choosing to see their children rather than earn extra money (in other words working as little as they can afford to). Why on earth is that misguided?

Twiglett · 17/05/2007 14:48

opens thread

read OP

realise its written by mozhe

closes thread

walks away

and forgets all about it saying mantra

Aloha · 17/05/2007 14:49

If you worship money and dislike spending time with your children, then yes, of course it is illogical to work fewer hours. I can totally understand that.

Chelseamum · 17/05/2007 14:50

come on mozhe, be honest to yourself... how much time do you spend with all your children?
I just don't get it!

edam · 17/05/2007 14:52

Hang on, isn't Mozhe a doctor? So, say what you like about her relationship with her children (and none of us know what that is really like), her working life does benefit patients and medical students.