Reducing hours? What benefit have you seen?

[snazzychair]

For those of you who have reduced working hours, what benefit to your life have you seen?

Whether you are a parent who has reduced hours, or not a parent but have reduced hours for mental health purposes.

@Africa2go yes I do worry about the money side for the future as I'm an older mother and late career changer so I don't have as much time to build up my various pots already.

@SplunkPostGres agree.

@Greenbirdies that's interesting about the several shorter days V 1 half day. I suppose it's hard to predict what will work individually

I dropped a day (from full time) at the start of this year. No kids at home, and I don't rely on my partner to pick up any extra costs. I love it - it gives me a clear day to do whatever the hell I want to do, on my own or with friends/my mum/whoever is around. I spend a lot of time at my gym, go out for lunch on my own, long dog walks...it's bliss. I'm 53 and I felt like I couldn't continue in a high stress job FT any longer.

I dropped from 40 hours to 32 and I don't think I'll ever go back to 5 days a week. I love the extra day off with my DC. So much easier having an extra day for appointments, or catching up on housework, laundry, meeting friends, going away for the weekend etc I do sometimes think about the extra money of doing one extra day a week but then I think life isn't all about money and working!

I work Mon tues wed thurs 8.30-4.45 and I will never go back to full time. That one day allows me time with my kids and also allows me to get the house in order, washing bedding, food shop etc.

Menopausal and have cut down to four days.
Impact: I can relax more at the actual weekend
I'm more focussed at work
I am less resentful of my long hours and packed days during the week
I can just about keep on top of household admin and care for elderly relative and still have a life
Aiming for three days as soon as I can afford it

I dropped down to 3 days and love it! I feel like I'm never at work but go to work enough to feel I'm not isolated.

2 drop offs and pick ups a week 2 days with just my youngest for baby groups 2 days to have a chilled tea bathtime and story rather than chucking them straight to bed. Then family weekend when my partners back (he works away) its perfect and I never want to go back to 5 days if inflation doesn't force my hand

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@SplunkPostGres ah that’s makes sense. Unfortunately common sense doesn’t seem to factor in many government or employers thinking.

I do 22.5 which is fine, wouldn't mind doing slightly less as the nature of my job plus not being able to get the perfect childcare days for it means I don't get lunch break/start early the days I work.
On the plus side I get more time with my toddler, time to catch up on house stuff, personal admin things, get to go out to nice places, do gardening etc. We all get a bit of a lie in on my non working days and I love not having to get up and rush about getting dressed and out the door.

Since leaving uni I've never worked full time. Before that I had full time seasonal jobs. I knew I'd never work full time- I'm not career orientated and don't need the money. My pension isn't great but my DHs is. If he drops down dead or becomes ill we have insurance to replace his salary. We could have a bigger house with more money I suppose but it's not worth it IMO. If we divorce... well... cross that bridge if we come to it. I'm not basing my life on that possibility - I'd never have had kids with him for starters

I agree but having lived in Scandinavia (in fact, Denmark which whose men make the biggest domestic ontribution in the world I believe) I can confirm most fathers are still considered by mothers to be generally useless. Yes, the expectations of fathers by woman are higher than most the rest of the world but the load still falls on the mother. But the shared parental leave expectation is helpful particularly in the workplace, but in the family it has less impact ime.

I’ve worked 30 hours over 4 days for ten years. When kids were little I got to spend time with them, when they went to school gave me chance to not have a day rushing everywhere. I’d do my hobby in am maybe grab a coffee, tackle a few jobs etc.

im currently on mat leave so will be another couple of years of baby/toddler care then back to a bit of me time!

I do full time over 4 days and love it, hardly notice the extra at the start of the day but an extra day off it’s great for getting bits done. I do WFH 2 days a week so get a bit done around the house then in breaks etc like washing, made a huge difference

You will then blame your future ex because you sacrificed your career to work part-time, lost pension contributions, and career progress, etc.

What @SplunkPostGres said is really important and often overlooked.

I am so tired of working with enabled senior men who take for granted that they have someone doing their domestic labour. It really does inform their outlook and perception of their importance and their expectation of others.

I'm equally depressed that there are so many women willing to enable these men. They step back because they are willing to play the enabling role and to take advantage of a man's higher income. Then they have the cheek to bleat about the importance of their 'work life balance' to their poorer, FT colleagues! It's become a cliche where I work where all the women go part time and all the senior managers are enabled men.

But by all means do 'what works for your family'...

You’re very unhappy in life aren’t you?

@Waferbiscuit why wouldnt anyone do what’s best for their own circumstances/family?
I cannot think of one person who goes out to work purely for the benefit of some random other person.
If you don’t want to work part time, or it doesn’t work for you - that’s a you problem, not anyone else’s to fix.

@Alphabet1spaghetti2 of course people will do what's right for them. Just trying to flag up some of the consequences and one of those is enabling men and creating a workplace where men still dominate.

Ever tried to be a single parent competing in work against a man who has someone who does his laundry and makes his dinner etc etc so he can fully focus on work and never weighed down by the mental load. Guess who gets the promotion?

I was part time 21 hours, for nearly 14 years. My career and earning potential has taken a battering yes. But I will never regret the time I got to spend with my children. I really do feel like it will advantage them growing up.
Anyway I've recently gone full time in a hybrid job, so 50/50 WFH and office. If I wasn't able to do WFH I probably would've still been part time, miserable and bored in a shit paying job. It's opened up my prospects, I'm now working in a flexible job with lots of opportunities to grow, public sector pension and great balance, my kids have hardly even noticed a difference.

Everyone is different, everyone's priorities are different, you just do you. I never thought I'd get to go full time til my kids were out of school, but one good thing about the pandemic is that employers are becoming a lot more family friendly with their working methods.

@Waferbiscuit yes, and it was the woman who could competently prove she could multitask that got the promotion and pay rise.
As for having to consider workplace consequences regarding other peoples potential promotion/enabling men to dominate…. You really are having a laugh! Not a chance in hell is anyone male or female, going to factor that into their decision on wether to go full time or part time.

I don't disagree, I'm just saying what the implications are for the workplace. And to question women trading off enabling men for money!

Why? Because I am pointing out what has been said here a million times. Or, you like to reduce your working hours now because you want to spend more time with your children and then blame someone else if things don't work out?

I went down to 27 hours over 4 days so it meant I did the school pick up 4 days a week and one day used after school club and 4 mornings at breakfast club. Ive now gone back up to 4 full time days as they are secondary school now so no need for pick up - I still start at 8 to finish at 4:30.

It did take the pressure of home life but was frustrating as my pay went down (less bonus as well) as did pension contribution - so we did set up a isa to put in the difference for the pension bit but still miss out on the companies amount (it has be dipped in a bit for emergencies) I could go back up to 5 full time days but for now it works as a family - it’s good to know that financially I can look into either compressed working or back up to 5 days if we needed it.

@Waferbiscuit I’ve found that men just don’t make a big deal over supporting women in pursuing their career. Whereas women tend to do so in order to ‘justify’ their p/t or non working role. Which is a societal shame that there is this disparity in thinking. Bizarrely society also seems to belittle/condemn men who do opt to go part time in a way that women aren’t.
Even more odd is that society always goes on about how women need to think of pensions/relationships falling apart if she opts for part time - yet this is never an issue for part time working men to need to consider!

(yes, I know a large number of men and women who work part time, in a variety of different industries employed and self employed).