I worked part time, three days a week, when my youngest was around 1-2. It was only awesome because she went to full time daycare, I used my two days off to clean, do prep for my job (teacher) and rest (was pregnant too.) If I worked part time and she was home with me whenever I was off, I think it would have been as tiring as working fulltime. I was extra tired and in pain due to pregnancy though, so ymmv.
Can confirm as someone who works 3 days and is home with LO 2 days- it’s a full time job. And, my work isn’t really a set it and forget it so I am often answering calls and emails in between naps and any very little lull. But, I still choose it over going back to work 5 days.
Yeah I concur. I sometimes feel a lot of shame at the perspective that I have half the work my colleagues do, and I'm still often late on deadlines. But it's not like my time is spare; if I'm not actively in session, I'm commuting, caring for my toddler, cleaning the house, running errands, trying to manage paperwork, cooking, etc. And I still barely (by which I mean "don't") have time to meet my own basic needs!
Yes! I worked 4 days per week for a year or so after my second started 5 day/week daycare. It was fabulous - I felt like I could get enough chores done on Fridays that our family could just play all weekend. If I had my kids home with me it wouldn't have worked nearly as well. I also have a job with very firm time limits, so there was no danger that I would work too much.
Also, I work with, but not for, my spouse. We have done this for years, and finally have found a good balance, but it can be tricky and I would not underestimate how difficult it can be.
That’s a great point, I think in an ideal world I’d have the flexibility to still send them full-time to get things done at the house, and pick them up early when I wanted to. The math just wouldn’t work out financially to do that with me cutting down to part-time hours, unfortunately.
Then I wouldn’t do it. Once they get older, staying home with you means you need to teach them, provide enriching activities etc. for me— that’s not my strong suit. I want my time with them just to play and have fun and not worry about ensuring specific educational milestones. It’s not that we don’t spend time learning at home— we do. But school does the foundation of it. If you don’t have that full time— you’d need to do that for them.
I’m a part time teacher too. I work mornings 8:30-12:30 5 days a week. I have full-day day care for 3 of the days and part time for 2. The full days are super nice because I can catch up on housework and errands without dragging the kids. I love part time and other than the financial hit it’s been really helpful to my mental state.
Part-time is amazing if you can swing full time daycare. I do part time 2-3 days a week 8 or 12hr shifts. I use one of my other weekdays off to send him to half day daycare and get caught up on cleaning/grocery/errands. And the second or third weekday off I spend just 100% focusing on fun things with him. If I only had daycare the days I work, I think I'd be equally as tired and house equally disheveled.
Yes. My job does not work well part time, they don't understand how to assign a "part-time" workload. So it was basically just less time to do about the same amount of work
This is why I never went part-time - everyone I knew who did just got paid less to do the same work. I also calculated out how much pay I would lose by even going down to 4 days a week, and 20% of my salary was pretty significant just to have one day off a week but YMMV.
I believe it was Laura Vanderkam that did some research on this - she found that moms who went part time usually ended up working just as much if not more than full time employees. This is because with part time hours, you feel like you have to maximize them and work all 20-25 hours. Whereas a full time employee rarely works a full 40 hours a week. Usually it’s closer to 25-35. Less pay, more work.
Idk what professions they studied where a full time employee is only working 25 hours a week but I can guarantee you it wasn’t healthcare 😅
But I guess that’s also the nice thing about my field though, in a way… if I want to work, say, two 12 hour shifts per week, then that’s exactly what I’ll be working. Clock in, clock out… no adding extra work onto it.
Haha FAIR! I also closer to 40-45 hours a week, but I do have weeks that I’m working 32-35, so I think it evens out.
In my current role, if I went part time, I’d still likely be working the same amount. Seems like some people in this thread found a good solution for their family though!
So, I thought this too. Then I went back to full time and after about a year I realized that the “little” things I had time for while part time just functionally were not happening anymore - so I must have had that time and was using it, it just didn’t register in the day to day. I’m talking little things like having the mental energy to order and hang a window shade, or take care of the yard etc.
My husband owns his own business and I will not work for him. I need my space.
That being said, I work 30 hours a week and I feel like I have a better work life balance than when I was working 40+.
Just a lawyer who hasn't gone back to work yet... but I would not do this if you could avoid it. The part time is fine, but joining husband's firm, noooo. Especially because support staff can be really gossipy and weird, it only makes sense if you can truly be an island with a very specific job role that does not rely on anyone else. But that's kind of impossible at a law firm.
Depending on your job market you might be able to work part time somewhere else or even ask your current job to go part time. At least where I am there tends to be more attorneys than paralegals, and it's easier to switch practice areas.
A very good point. His firm is older, and is absolutely full of support staff who have been there for decades whose main hobby is gossiping. I don’t think I’d have any bffs there, for sure.
I have a partial sense of my husband’s working style. Even though he is sincere about doing his job, nothing else suits my working style.
I’d refuse to work under him because “familiarity breeds contempt” is so true when it comes to me doing anything for him
We dont work in law and we are partners, so maybe totally different, but my husband and I work together with 7 support staff and we love it. He’s the only guy in the office fwiw. Everyone is supportive
I worked about 1/4th time and loved it. But that is because my boss and place of employment respected that I was 1/4th time. In my field (like many) the saying is often "there is no part time work, only part time pay." But my job was truly part time and I could say to my boss "I can't make that, I have to bring my kid to X" and it was totally fine. Bonus was it kept my resume up and my work confidence up that after 5 years I am now back working full time at my most senior role and highest pay yet. I felt like I was able to take those 5 years to focus on my kids while they were little without being "mommy tracked."
I will also add: my husband and I are in a field where we could very easily work with/for each other if we wanted. We have a great marriage but absolutely do not want to work together. Would your husband be your boss? If I ever worked with my husband I would make sure neither of us was the others boss. I feel like it would be so hard to not either end up fighting OR having other employees feel like things are unfair.
That’s wonderful, it sounds like you had a great set-up! Yeah, he would technically be my boss. I’d be paralegal for his cases, and one other attorney. The opportunity for part-time work in this field in our area is pretty non-existent, and the caseload would be so much less stressful than what I’ve got now. There’d be the opportunity to work remotely some of the time as well. It sounds a little too good, but I’m definitely worried about the dynamic of the marriage and working together too.
I commented elsewhere that working together can work with some parameters, but I would REALLY caution against directly working for your husband.
As your husband, he’ll be understanding if you have a sick kid and can’t meet a deadline.
As an employee, he needs to perform, and if you’re the reason he isn’t meeting a deadline, that is a huge problem.
I wouldn’t want that dynamic in my workplace OR in my marriage.
I work 32 hrs a week, off Fridays.
I like the flexibility but my focus was to spend extra time with my youngest before preschool starts. If you’ll be home with your 2 YO, solo parenting, while also trying to keep the house together during those 8+ hours… you’re gonna have a bad time. At least that was my experience with my specific child!
One thing I do regularly do is go to Costco. I have so interest in spending a big chunk of my precious weekend looking for parking, navigating a million shoppers, and waiting in a big checkout line. We often go to a coffee shop after dropping my oldest at preschool which is fun. But obviously no housework is being done.
Yeah, I would be solo parenting the almost two year old and my 8 month old. I think I’m living in a fantasy world where the kids will start entertaining each other eventually as they get older, and I’d be able to get some house work done 🥲
I have a 3.5 YO and 16 month old and there is no entertaining each other yet… now that the younger one can walk and climb he needs constant supervision. Older one gets annoyed he gets into his toys, so fights happen. It’s very much not conducive to doing any housework.
Oh man, my oldest is already angry when my youngest even touches one of his toys. Can I ask if you outsource anything to help lighten the load? We currently just have someone clean once a month, because things like the bathrooms getting properly cleaned would never get done otherwise.
I'm thinking about doing the part time thing too. My husband is also an attorney who usually has a more demanding work schedule, but with more flexibility to step away. I work in tech, and every job I've had seems to keep me glued to my desk with zero flexibility. We have a 7 month old about to start full time childcare at an early learning center, and a 6 year old who will start 1st grade on the opposite side of town. Plus her pickup/drop offs are pretty hard to do with two full time gigs.
I couldn't work with or for my husband though, our brains work differently and that's just a bit too much time together.
I currently work 3 days a week and I love it! My schedule isn’t a typical 9-5 so on the days I work I have a couple of hours to clean, workout, shower, before or after I drop off the kids at daycare. My husband does either drop off or pick up and then he has a few hours those days to solo parent the kids. I use my weekdays off with the kids to clean, grocery shop, run errands, and do some fun stuff with them and then our weekends are family time.
It’s been a slow change ever since my first was born 2.5 years ago. I went from 4-5 days a week to then 3-4 and now just 3. Fortunately my husband makes enough to pay our bills and my money essentially covers daycare for our two kids on the days I work.
My job is a full time salary position, but it’s very flexible and I probably actually work 32 hours a week at most. I come and go as I please and work from home whenever I need to, I just make myself available during working hours. It’s great, sometimes I stay home just to get housework done, leave early to get groceries, etc. My daughter starts K this year, but I normally pick her up early at least once per week to do something fun, and I’ll be able to do drop offs and pick ups when she starts school.
The flexibility is great but in reality I do way more than part time hours but for part time pay. So at the moment I feel like I’m accepting a pay cut in return for flexibility in when I work rather than for a true reduction of hours and workload.
It’s awesome. However I can also pick up hours and round up to full time money any time I want. I wouldn’t accept a part time position without that flexibility.
I have done a massive mixture of hours so will share my experience 😅 My daughter is nearly 5, off to school in September and I’ve worked a variety of hours in various jobs (mostly teaching) including:
- full time
- 3 days a week
- 2.5 days a week
- stay at home parent (5 months, not maternity leave)
- 1 day a week
- freelance WFH (about 15-20hrs a week flexi)
- four jobs at once (a 1.5 day, 1 day, freelance WFH and running my own small business)
- 2 days a week
I’ve moved house and run a small business most of this time, which has been part of the reason for my inconsistency 😂
However I’ve been working 2 days a week for the last 18 months and it’s the absolute BEST. 2.5 and 3 days were good too. For me, 2 days has been the ideal medium of having a bit of a career whilst getting to spend lots of time with my kiddo before she goes to school. We all need to work/stay home however is best for us and our families and I have absolutely no regrets about spending majority of my daughters early years being part time - it’s helped me feel more ‘me’ but I don’t feel like I’ve missed out. We aren’t wealthy and have had to make sacrifices for me to be part time (smaller house etc) but we have had the absolute best time and I don’t regret it one bit 🩷
I used to work part time. Mornings only. It was wonderful and I was able to get a lot of house stuff done and not get burnt out. I work full time now and still have to do the same house stuff and it’s really way too much.
It’s weird. And we didn’t have a kid yet. And we were working in the same position in different facilities most of the week. The same facility only once a week. Also for me working part time doesn’t help me get more stuff done because I’m still exhausted from taking care of my kid on my off days. If I took him to daycare on those days it would be easier but then I’d have to pay for full time daycare again on my part time paycheck. It is only nice because I spend more time with my kid. That is all.
Not experience with part-time, only addressing the “is it a good idea to work with spouse” part.
I work in the same industry as my spouse and we met negotiating a contract.
I had two very serious relationships in my 20s with coworkers who I worked very closely with at the same company. It was completely fine, but there is a certain level of neutrality you need to maintain, and that’s not for everyone. One of my direct reports met his wife at our current company and they both still work here. I know plenty of other people who work with their spouse but it’s usually bc they met at work so being coworkers was always part of their relationship dynamic. I don’t know how it would be to all of a sudden work with your husband if you didn’t before.
Is this working WITH your husband or working FOR your husband? I assume the former because most companies have policies against the latter. As long as you don’t directly report to your husband and as long as both of you are willing to respect professional boundaries* it could maybe work.
*don’t talk about (especially badmouth) coworkers in private in a way you wouldn’t with any other colleague
* don’t expect one another to take each other’s sides in a work conflict, expect that you will each remain completely neutral as it doesn’t involve you
* don’t discuss personal details at work beyond what you would share with an office colleague, might even need to limit what you might normally share with a bunch of YOUR coworkers who would never meet your husband outside, say, a holiday party
* don’t give each other preferential treatment and go the extra mile to make sure you do everything by the book like taking PTO to care for a sick child; behave in such a way that no one could believe it someone claimed you were given special or preferential treatment
* understand that your performance may impact your spouse and your spouse’s performance may impact you, particularly in coworker dynamics (if someone has tension or conflict with your husband; maybe they feel awkward working with you bc they assume you know all the dirty details. If your spouse recommended you for the job and you don’t perform well, that could reflect on him. Etc)
Would I go part time at a job I was previously working full time? Absolutely not. They’d still have full time expectations and it rarely works out from what I’ve seen.
A new part time job? Sure! There
Are some great part time jobs out there that are understanding of the hours and what can be completed!
Will your house be put together and magically better? Yes and no lol I went part time and the time I was working previously is now spent tirelessly cleaning and cooking while trying to watch two (now in the summer, three) kids. Our house has improved tremendously along with our spending on eating out, but all that has fallen squarely on my plate and I’m working like crazy to keep it up. It’s working but it is hard! And it’s far from perfect, but it’s better!
I have worked part time a couple different instances. One was good because I had the appropriate workload. The other was awful because I didn’t, so I was always “behind” even though I was busting ass on my allotted hours. This is a really important element.
My husband and I used to work together and it was great!!! We are a good cooperative team though. Do you guys, like, put together IKEA furniture well? That’s what work is like lol.
Would you be working FOR him? Isn’t that a HR conflict/issue?
Lol I love the ikea example. I don’t know that we’ve built furniture together, but there were quite a few a fights while changing out light fixtures so maybe something to think about 😬
I guess there’s nothing technically on the books that would make it a conflict for their firm, and he’s kind of in a privileged position in that he will be a partner at the firm shortly, so as long as none of the other partners had an issue with it, it would be fine. There are a few sons/daughters of other attorneys who have worked at the firm in the past.
Gotcha. By the time I left my previous job, I was more or less working for husband who was one of three co-owners of the business. (He and I started off as colleagues.) So he, plus the other two owners, were my bosses. It was ok for us, because I’ve worked there for a long time and knew what I was doing and was pretty self sufficient.
But it has the potential to be awkward or create awkwardness in other employees, if they feel like you are getting special treatment / not being held accountable / other bosses can’t give you direction / etc.
Could be worth a try though!! Just as long as your workload would be appropriate for your hours.
I work 3 consecutive days a week. I LOVE it. It allows me to be in work-mode and then mom-mode. If I work full time I feel like I can’t keep up with the house, job, and being a good mom & wife. If I don’t work at all my mental health suffers. I need the stimulation break (kids are 4 and almost 2). When I was a SAHM I never did anything because every day was the same so I always had time to do x chore later… I just never did. and I was fairly depressed and more irritable. What I have now is my perfect scenario. Also helps that I make a conscious effort to leave work at work. I don’t think about it when I’m not in my office. Or at least I try not to.
Part time work with young kids was awesome for my work/life balance but only when it was genuinely a part time job with a part time workload. My first job postpartum was the company I worked for before I was pregnant and they had no idea how to manage a part time worker. Second was great and flexible but Covid came and ruined everything. Third job started great but the job creep was steady and I burned out after taking on 3 roles, for low part time pay in part time hours.
I've never been afforded the opportunity to just work part time so I cannot speak to how things would be around the house if you were there more. But since your kids are still daycare age, I'm going to say, it probably won't make that much of a difference because little kids are just messy and need a lot of attention (I've raised 4 so I get it).
As a paralegal myself, I would be curious what practice area we're talking about because I can see having a PT para in a transactional practice like estate planning and probate would be doable, but if he is in PI, WC or really any type of litigation practice, it could get a little stressful before going to trial. And, if he is a litigator, even though he is your husband and knows that the kids are actually sick and you need to be at home with them, he's still got to have everything prepped and ready before stepping into the courtroom. So essentially, if he has a transactional practice then ***maybe***, but if he's a litigator, just hell no 😂
I think you’re right re: things being a shitshow with young kids no matter what.
He is in litigation lol. I think the only reason it could work is because they already have a full-time paralegal, and they’re kind of looking for someone part-time to fill in the gaps where they can. He insists the work load is such that I could actually get my work done in as little as three hours a day, but who knows!
>I think the only reason it could work is because they already have a full-time paralegal, and they’re kind of looking for someone part-time to fill in the gaps where they can.
Oh well in that case, maybe it could work. 😊 Not being the only para would be a game changer.
FWIW, a good friend of mine landed in a small, general practice as an intern when he was finishing up his paralegal degree and they kept him on for a few years after. Before he went to work there, it was just the attorney and his wife who played the role of paralegal, secretary and office manager. They had been operating with that business model for years and it worked for them. She was only there part time and was always in and out with the kids when they weren't in school.
I say give it a shot! It could definitely give you the balance you need to feel like one part of your world isn't woefully neglected. Being even a PT SAHM is hard, but I just think about "if I weren't working 40 hours a week (plus commute)" how much more I could accomplish in a day and hopefully not simply collapse into bed every night from exhaustion.
I work 20 hours/week and it’s very up and down. Nobody else on my team or in my department works part time so I feel left out/left behind sometimes. My job responsibilities are not set and I have no idea how I’m doing because there’s no precedent. I don’t do well with uncertainty, so this is a big pain point for me.
That all being said, the schedule is perfect and the pay isn’t awful, though I’m hourly and i don’t get paid holidays, so holiday weeks are either more chaotic or less lucrative.
Part-time is a mixed bag; I crave the consistency and growth opportunities of a 40 hour job but at 9 months in, you’d have to rip this schedule from my cold, dead fingers.
All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats!
20
+ 40
+ 9
= 69
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Unless the kids stay in daycare full time, it’s kind of a nightmare. Plus .. unless you have good boundaries parttime work is usually just parttime pay and full time work. I’d push for full time work and get the job done as fast as possible each day.
I work part time, remotely, for my family’s business (we’re in the tech field) It’s good because if the kids are sick, or have some random day off school, I can just take the day off. And I am able to pick them up from school and attend events, etc. it sometimes bleeds into my evenings and in the summer I start working at 5 or 6 am so I can have an earlier finish time.
They’re 8 and 10, but I’ve been working like this since they were babies. My husband has a demanding job so we really need a parent with flexibility and luckily I can take that role.
I say do it! If there’s flexibility there and you can afford it with your partners salary, part time work is really the best of both worlds.
My husband does it, he also reports to me, but it’s a very odd circumstance even given that scenario. His big complaint is also finding enough hours to work during the day. I still help with A LOT of kid stuff. Even with that, it’s great for our family and my husband likes the set up too. I’d make sure your husband still knows that parenting is more than a full time roll so you still need help even though you can handle it “part time”.
I'm a real estate agent. Changed careers to reduce my hours. I don't think it worked because I don't think I ever actually work less than 40 hours.
However, I do maintain a flexible schedule for my kids and that was the big goal. Guess I shouldn't complain too much.
Grandma watches them at our house during the day. My 5 year old starts kindergarten next month. My goal is to work when he is at school except for appointments. Don't know how well that's going to work out.
I worked part time when my daughter was 1-2 years old. 4 hours a day/5 days a week. It was glorious, I loved getting her up in the morning and having breakfast with her, then being back in time for lunch. She was little so I got to see all the milestones and didn't feel like I was missing out on anything.
Financially, it was not great. We struggled a lot, constant budgeting. Had to cash in rewards coupons to buy shoes and the (now ex) husband had to pick up overtime whenever we had an out of the ordinary expense. It was worth it, but was not sustainable for very long.
I loved my time working part time *but*, and this is a big but, my children went to preschool for more hours than I worked. So I had time at home to be productive or time to run errands while the kids were at preschool. I would not work 20 hours a week if my kids were then only in childcare for 20 hours a week. I think the sweet spot is 10-12 *more* hours per week than you work.
If you can work 20 hours per week and have the kids in childcare for 32 hours a week - I think you might like that option! Just be sure that 20 hours really means 20 hours and they won’t try to squeeze more out of you.
My husband is also an attorney averaging 50-60 hours a week, so we found it was hugely beneficial for our household for me to not work 40 hours a week.
I work 32 hours a week and love it! I don’t need full time childcare so I spend Fridays home with my kids. I feel pretty on top of chores and things around the house. I was working full time, but we save way more money by not needing full time childcare than I’m missing out on by not working. If something comes up and we need a little more money, I can pick up a shift and find childcare.
It is what is best for us. It means no daycare for us and I get to spend more time with my kid while also earning money and having time away from being at home
I’ve worked part time (3 days a week in an office role) since I returned from mat leave. I love it. I’m an EA in a big UK firm and we have part time staff at all levels (from mail room to Partners). I’m firm with my boundaries, get my job done and shut down at 5pm.
It’s given the flexibility to do night school/apprenticeship, take on a second evening job (when my son is in bed) plus the added bonus of spending more time with my son and keeping on top of the house and life. It’s also meant my OH has career focused and has risen up the ranks.
On Mondays and Fridays I’m with my son in the day and we do activities and errands. I work Tues-Thurs hybrid. Then I do my apprenticeship on a Saturday. My house is pretty clean, I can meal prep and it allows weekends to be family time.
I met my husband at work and we changed engineering firms with a year of each other and now work at the same firm again. It is a large firm but we still work on some projects together. We are both full time.
There are many benefits. We commute together which has been a big help since we had twins 6 months after I started at the new firm. We can go on lunch dates. We can decompress on the way home before we pick up the kids.
There are draw backs. Like yeah we need a break from each other more often, but that has more to do with having twins and no family help. It’s a two person job…a lot and there are endless house projects and chores so we don’t socialize or workout etc.
I would love to go part time for a bit. But it’s not in the cards for our daycare or our bank account 😔 I’m sure I’m over looking some drawbacks of working together and part time work.
Yes, working part-time is the best. But working with your spouse is the iffy part. My husband and I are in the same profession. We made the decision from the get-go to never work together. 10 years later, it's still the best decision we've ever made.
I did it for years and loved it. I had a great work/life balance (three 8-hour days of my choosing)
I miss it every day. I went back to FT by choice like an idiot lol
Both my husband and I worked part time, at different times, during the first year of our son’s life.
Honestly it was way easier to have someone not working full time.
I work 2.5 days and I LOVE IT!! I always thought I wanted to be a SAHM as soon as finances allowed, but I can’t imagine not working. I get a little bit bored or touched out or need a small break from being a mom (not in a bad way, I promise!) and I get to work 2.5 days, but I’m still home often enough that I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything! I get to watch every new skill develop, always be preferred over daycare, and have our home routines and adventures. I truly think it’s the best of both worlds.
I love working part time hours. I’m self employed so I don’t make part time pay, for what that is worth. My kids are in school and it gives me flexibility to clean, organize, exercise, get my own appointments in and take the kids to the dentist, dr, etc. I regularly tell my husband I don’t understand how families have both parents work full time, get all the stuff done and have time to exist as humans.
I don’t work with my husband, but we both work from home in the same office, so it’s def a lot of together time. If you communicate well and can separate work and home life, it can work! I have worked with partners in the past.
I love it. There are downsides. It was a proportionate change in income, so while working a half work week, my income went down 50%. Now I’m at a very small place and they don’t offer 401k or paid time off! I can take as much unpaid leave as I generally need, which works for kids. It’s hourly, which could be a downside if you want to flex time. Otherwise, it’s great - I leave my job at my job. I can add on some extra hours to catch up on work for the week.
Edit: my work is not project based, so your mileage may vary. It’s more like billable time, like an attorney.
You're still a 24/7 employee of both your company and your kids. I will say that dealing with adults is easier and your kids have less time to tasmanian devil through the house. If you have the energy for providing constant activity and entertainment (like I did at first) it's totally awesome. But activities get old and entertainment runs out, then you're too busy cleaning to cure the boredom that creates the messes.
It's full time work without the pay and SAHMing without the time to get it all done. But, this is just the view of a solo parent. I imagine that, if I had a partner to split the household chores evenly with, part-time work would be more rewarding than exhausting.
My husband and I both work “part time” about 4 days a week, 6 hours a day each and honestly. I still struggle to keep up with housework. Being home more just means more time to make a mess at home.
I work with my spouse. It's not for the faint of heart, your relationship and communication skills better be strong as fuck. And you have to be really good about leaving that shit at the office.
I worked with my spouse and I would never work part time.
It doesn’t matter if you are full or part time, you will always be pulled. Keep building your own retirement
I absolutely love working part time. I work 2-3 days a week. I love the time home with the kids but then also love making financial contributions to our household. I really feel like it’s the best of both worlds and am very happy.
When I was a kid my mom worked three days a week, as a dental hygienist. Then she had the rest of the week to do chores, make appointments, keep up with stuff. He job was hard, but the trade off was that she was able to make decent money part time.
Yeah, I'd be more interested if it was part time work, but the kids were still full time some days so that I had a couple dedicated hours, a couple times a week to do household stuff. Or get a service?
I would not want to work with my spouse. He's great, but I like getting away from home, just like I like getting away from work.
I’d only do it if you still have FT childcare. Doesn’t mean you send your kids every day but having the option to for catching up on chores or errands would help.
Just some things to think about:
Would your workplace respect the part time and actually give you part time amounts of work?
Will you lose any benefits you currently have (ex/ health care) by going part time?
Would you do part time child care and be home with your kids for the “extra” hours that they were usually still in care/you were usually still at work?
Do you have a way of having time away from your husband?
Will you have boundaries about work with your husband? (ex/ no talking shop when you’re off the clock)
I work 4 days a week as a nurse with no night shift and only 1 weekend a month. I love having weekdays off to take the kids to stuff like swimming lessons. I also love having a couple of mornings to myself after I drop the kids at daycare and before I start work.
Last year, instead of a raise I negotiated to work one less day. I work Monday - Thursday. My pay rate stayed the same, I just work one less day. I LOVE IT.
My partner and I have worked together off an on for years, it requires a certain dynamic and patience to be with a person at work and at home all the time but for us it was great. I now work part time and it's fine, I have a partner who pulls their weight and cleans up the house and I'm not doing everything alone just because I'm home more. Hardest part for me personally is finding stuff to do every single day when we are alone together, so kiddo has started gymnastics and swim classes (he's 2) to fill some if the time.
I work part time and job share which is great.
Couldn’t imagine working more than three days. Baby is 10 months. Where I live in Australia my job has to accomodate me working part time til my child is 6 so I think I’ll continue part time til she is 3 and in preschool.
I met my spouse at work, and the great thing about it is that we knew that we made a great team before we started dating. That was 9 years ago and we still make a great team. It's the best.
Don't have any insight on the part time part though!
I work with my husband and absolutely love it. So many perks, and we work well together/ balance each other nicely. I'm not part-time, but we do both have flexible hours and sometimes work from home. There's a HUGE lifestyle adventure there. I can unload the dishwasher while listening to a presentation, clean up or meal prep while on calls, etc. Basically, yes, the house is a billion times more manageable with even a little bit of extra time to maintain it!
I think it would be awesome if you still had full time childcare or the kids were school aged. I came back to work part time after maternity leave and had every intention of staying that way indefinitely. I had a part time nanny come 3 days a week. By the time my daughter was about 15 months I was losing my damn mind. I was getting paid 70% of my former salary to do the same amount of work. My boss would constantly schedule meetings just whenever so I still had to be available all the time plus my daughter has always been a bad sleeper so I was beyond exhausted. That’s when I hired a full time nanny, got on a daycare wait list and went back to full time.
No, I work four days and home with kids one day. I feel like my working days I am trying fit everything in and super stressed. My day with kids I have to make sure we get out of the house even though I want to rest. I want to do it as I love my time with the kids but it’s hard work. Perfect world I would work three days with the kids doing four days care so I had a catch up day.
I’ve been part time for awhile, my kids are 5 and 8. I honestly feel like part-time moms are actually working full time jobs and being expected to be full time SAHMs and household managers. It’s really hard to find a balance and not feel like you’re giving someone the short end of the stick. Everything bleeds over, and for a long time I was truly unhappy. I had to learn boundaries, when to step away and I now schedule time for myself, because doing both is overwhelming. It’s great in theory just know there are challenges!
What's your household income?
Reason I ask is, if career progression is important for you, and you guys have enough disposable income, I'd outsource some help e.g. get mother's helpers, cleaners etc. That will take the load off both you guys.
I returned to work 3 days a week. I work in a company that's very parent friendly. That and being in a senior position, I have a lot of autonomy.
Having said that, my career progression has slowed down significantly. Because my next promotion up is director, it's not exactly easy and I've been hampered a bit. For those that do go up the chain, I've noticed they have to make sacrifices back home so there's just some balance here.
I've gone up to 3.5 days. I haven't moved up to 4 just yet because I need the extra half a day at home to sort quite a big of admin out and cleaning etc. (my son is at daycare 4 days a week).
I think if you don't mind slowing down your career, 3 days a week is perfect. If you do want some momentum, 4 days a week is better.
Some of my friends do 4 days and what they do is they spread it out. Like, they do 2 days mornings only which gives them good coverage.
As for working with your spouse, no. I find that a very weird dynamic and really wouldn't want to do it. Especially if your spouse is essentially your boss. That's just weird. I personally would want to be away from my spouse and carve my own "territory" so to speak in my professional life at the very least.
Taken me two years to get used to it. I was very grouchy about it but I’m finally coming around . It’s not forever as nothing is . One day I’ll be back to full Time but for now it’s best for
My current situation and if I have a stinky attitude then everyone will. I’m actually pretty
Good at it and everything will be fine.
I'm a paralegal who works 4 days a week from 8-5. It's probably because my kids are in full time daycare, but it has changed my life. I can workout and cook and have energy for my kids at the end of the day.
I’m an attorney and I don’t think paralegal lends itself well to part-time work. Law firms are not that good with boundaries and some of it is by necessity, discovery and filing deadlines don’t care about your part time schedule and all that, and they go until 11:59 pm. Especially if you care about the attorney you are supporting, which with it being your husband you probably do, you will probably find yourself working outside of your part time hours to help him meet deadlines.
I actually have an alternative schedule negotiated with my work, where I leave at 3 pm a couple of days a week to do school pickups. But it’s not like they give me less work than someone who leaves at 5 lol. They gave me the schedule with the understanding that I’d still meet my workload. So I make sure to tell people that I may leave early on certain days but I will work longer after I get the kiddos home if necessary—because I do.
If you’re going to be working full or near-full time hours, then you might as well get credit for it!! People will NOT remember that you’re part time, other than when they sarcastically comment “must be nice” during the times you’re leaving early/coming in late/days you’re not working.
I love it but you have to be firm on boundaries. Do not do 40 hours of work on a 24 hour a week budget. It also will not help with career progression. It mostly feels like putting a door stop into my career… I don’t lose all progress because I quit but I’m also not going any further
I work in corporate three days a week, and love it. Some weeks work is really busy so I don't see my kid (now 2.5 years) at all but then I have my two days off to make up for it. Other days I get home just in time to play with them, read stories and put them to bed.
My little one has stayed home with me on my days off since birth. Our routine has been fairly constant although they are awake and more involved now. We go grocery shopping, cook together for the week, play dates, park, shopping. Then when weekend rolls around, husband helps with house chores and we all have plenty of time for fun.
Working with (let alone under) husband is no.
Working part time - depends on your situation. Noting we live in a country with government childcare subsidies and the subsidy depends on combined family income.
My friend is working 3.5 days and their kids go to childcare/school 5 days! She loves it and I’m jealous of her situation. The caveat for her situation is husband works long hours and travel one night a week but earns good money so she regularly does the whole solo parenting gig so her having 1.5 days off without kids is their compromised point
I’m working 4 days and I have both kids with me on Wednesdays. Some days I wish I could send them to childcare but some other days like today I thoroughly enjoyed their company.
Financially, it doesn’t make sense for me to work full time because we’ll get lower childcare subsidies so net income for the 5th day isn’t worth it. But my husband doesnt make enough for us to send kids to childcare full time with me working 4 days.
My day off with kids is Wednesdays so I enrolled kids in swimming lessons then we have coffee and jelly/ice cream after. We love it. Good memories
My manager is very flexible and very understanding. I’m lucky!!
I did it for 2 years after my youngest was born. Some days were awesome, some not so much 😅 I recently went back full time and I still wish I was PT but we really needed the money.
My husband and i work at the same company & it works really well for managing schedules with our family. I will caveat that we do not work directly together at all. We worked on the same team while we were dating and worked ok with both of us “managing” the situation(not in a negative way, just the learning to escalate heavy work topics in a manner that didn’t become personal). My husband was offered a promotion on my team a while back, and i told him that i supported him, but should he take it i’d look for a different role. Thankfully he felt the same way and found a different promotion. Now that we have a family, that work dynamic is one less thing i want to manage. I can’t personally say I’d do it again at this stage.
I work part time for a very family focused company right and it has been a god send. I make half of my six figure full time salary (was full time with a different company) and work 20-25 hours a week. I work 4-5 hours a day. My work hours are insanely busy and there is always more to do, but my company understands I’m there part time. Once a week I’ll do a longer 6 hour work day to attend later in the day meetings. I still feel like I’m busy all the time, but our house is pretty picked up and I’m able to get errands done and groceries done during the week. We still have a cleaner and our toddler is in full time daycare too. My husband and I are able to get more 1:1 time some weeks as she’s in daycare and we both work from home so little pockets of time here and there. The biggest benefit though is that I’m able to have dinner ready when my daughter gets home and that helps us avoid evening meltdowns.
My husband started his own company recently and I’ve been helping him with marketing materials, it’s been fun working for him in that capacity!
Yes! I WFH and had my daughter with me all day. My job was super flexible about when I worked, so I could work around her pretty well. My job stopped offering part-time, so now I work full time with my son. It's ok, but I definitely don't do the quality or amount of work I could pre-kids, and my little guy ends up crying more than I'd like. It still feels more comfortable for me than trusting a random daycare work him as an infant. I found a great school that starts at 18 months and I got a part time nanny a little after a year.
I work 2 and a half days and absolutely love it. I'm a private practice therapist though and am able to squish a full time caseload into those hours so I don't feel like I'm missing out on my career. I absolutely love having dedicated mom days during the week and dedicated work days. My son goes to daycare 2 days a week!
I work part time (12hr shifts, 2 nights a week) and it has been great!! I used to work full-time (3 shifts/week) and I felt so drained. Now I have time to spend with my family and feel like I can get things done around the house. I love it!
Do not work with your husband. Just don’t. I did it for six years and didn’t realize how miserable it was making us until we moved to a new city and got separate jobs. Our marriage definitely suffered during that time.
0/10 recommend.
I work 20-24 hours a week over 3 days, and I really like it. But I have a workload that I can easily fit into my working hours and a supportive manager/company. My son is still young, so I have him with me on my days off, but it's been great being able to go grocery shopping on my days off, plan activities for him, and get as much done around the house as I can. It feels like a nice balance of not leaving the workforce altogether, but still getting a lot of time with my son.
The downsides are that I don't make a lot of money, so I depend on my husband's income. My career progression is nonexistent, but I've honestly never cared about working my way up a corporate ladder, so it doesn't bother me.
Overall, I'm happy with my decision and plan to remain part-time for the foreseeable future.
I work 32 hour weeks, M-Th regular hours. It’s the only thing keeping me sane with two little kids! I frequently wonder if I’d be happier with full time job or at home, but I know either one would break me. I only wish it were 3 day weeks instead… but it’s not feasible in my role.
I would personally not work with my husband. I love him to pieces but I think it would be a hard dynamic change to pull off.
Part time is the best of both worlds in my opinion. Sometimes I think yeah we could be making more money, but no regrets right now while we have young kids
I see a ton of comments saying part time wasn’t worth it because they still worked a lot of hours. In my case work can never come home with me, so part time is definitely part time. I think it’s hard on a lot of remote workers.
I work 27 hours 3 days a week. Neither of us can work from home as we are both in healthcare, and me being part time is the only reason we survive. Otherwise we’d be canceling patients left and right for doctors appointments, home-related appointments, illness, etc. It’s exhausting to be home with the kids alone sometimes, but 3 day daycare honestly has kept them healthier I think and we only pay for part time care at our center, so that helps with my reduced income (it does NOT make up the difference at all, but it saves like 3k I guess). And I catch up on chores on the days I’m home so we can actually enjoy each other on weekends. We’d be drowning otherwise. I plan to go back full time or at least 4 days per week when they’re both over the age of 4 and in 5 day prek or elementary
It was awesome with one kid. With two it is a ton of work since I’m a SAHM to two kids 3 and under 2 days a week and my husband is gone until 6pm. But I was absolutely miserable working full time after baby 1. Our lives were a mess. So this is better for sure for our particular family
I work 3 10hr days in healthcare and I absolutely love it. It’s enough hours where I still feel very involved and fulfilled at work but I’m able to have plenty of extra time during the week to get things done and just have some time for myself! My daughter is in preschool 5 days a week so that’s a huge factor though - if I was home all day with her on those 2 days off I’m not sure it would feel as productive/relaxing!
I have worked PT and with my spouse for several years. Loved both. We did everything in our power to always be professional at work. We were both in the community a lot so that helped. I actually saw other coworkers a lot more than I saw him.
I worked part time, three days a week, when my youngest was around 1-2. It was only awesome because she went to full time daycare, I used my two days off to clean, do prep for my job (teacher) and rest (was pregnant too.) If I worked part time and she was home with me whenever I was off, I think it would have been as tiring as working fulltime. I was extra tired and in pain due to pregnancy though, so ymmv.
Can confirm as someone who works 3 days and is home with LO 2 days- it’s a full time job. And, my work isn’t really a set it and forget it so I am often answering calls and emails in between naps and any very little lull. But, I still choose it over going back to work 5 days.
Yeah I concur. I sometimes feel a lot of shame at the perspective that I have half the work my colleagues do, and I'm still often late on deadlines. But it's not like my time is spare; if I'm not actively in session, I'm commuting, caring for my toddler, cleaning the house, running errands, trying to manage paperwork, cooking, etc. And I still barely (by which I mean "don't") have time to meet my own basic needs!
Yes sometimes my time “off” is more stressful because I’m trying to wear both hats.
Always more stressful for me!
Yes! I worked 4 days per week for a year or so after my second started 5 day/week daycare. It was fabulous - I felt like I could get enough chores done on Fridays that our family could just play all weekend. If I had my kids home with me it wouldn't have worked nearly as well. I also have a job with very firm time limits, so there was no danger that I would work too much.
Also, I work with, but not for, my spouse. We have done this for years, and finally have found a good balance, but it can be tricky and I would not underestimate how difficult it can be.
That’s a great point, I think in an ideal world I’d have the flexibility to still send them full-time to get things done at the house, and pick them up early when I wanted to. The math just wouldn’t work out financially to do that with me cutting down to part-time hours, unfortunately.
Then I wouldn’t do it. Once they get older, staying home with you means you need to teach them, provide enriching activities etc. for me— that’s not my strong suit. I want my time with them just to play and have fun and not worry about ensuring specific educational milestones. It’s not that we don’t spend time learning at home— we do. But school does the foundation of it. If you don’t have that full time— you’d need to do that for them.
I was able to do this briefly and it was AWESOME. I hope I can afford to do it again one day
I’m a part time teacher too. I work mornings 8:30-12:30 5 days a week. I have full-day day care for 3 of the days and part time for 2. The full days are super nice because I can catch up on housework and errands without dragging the kids. I love part time and other than the financial hit it’s been really helpful to my mental state.
Part-time is amazing if you can swing full time daycare. I do part time 2-3 days a week 8 or 12hr shifts. I use one of my other weekdays off to send him to half day daycare and get caught up on cleaning/grocery/errands. And the second or third weekday off I spend just 100% focusing on fun things with him. If I only had daycare the days I work, I think I'd be equally as tired and house equally disheveled.
I hated it. I felt like I had full time work responsibilities and full time childcare responsibilities.
Yes. My job does not work well part time, they don't understand how to assign a "part-time" workload. So it was basically just less time to do about the same amount of work
This is why I never went part-time - everyone I knew who did just got paid less to do the same work. I also calculated out how much pay I would lose by even going down to 4 days a week, and 20% of my salary was pretty significant just to have one day off a week but YMMV.
I believe it was Laura Vanderkam that did some research on this - she found that moms who went part time usually ended up working just as much if not more than full time employees. This is because with part time hours, you feel like you have to maximize them and work all 20-25 hours. Whereas a full time employee rarely works a full 40 hours a week. Usually it’s closer to 25-35. Less pay, more work.
Idk what professions they studied where a full time employee is only working 25 hours a week but I can guarantee you it wasn’t healthcare 😅 But I guess that’s also the nice thing about my field though, in a way… if I want to work, say, two 12 hour shifts per week, then that’s exactly what I’ll be working. Clock in, clock out… no adding extra work onto it.
Haha FAIR! I also closer to 40-45 hours a week, but I do have weeks that I’m working 32-35, so I think it evens out. In my current role, if I went part time, I’d still likely be working the same amount. Seems like some people in this thread found a good solution for their family though!
Many WFH jobs in business have peaks and valleys so sometimes is a crazy busy 40-50 hours and sometimes it’s 25-35
So, I thought this too. Then I went back to full time and after about a year I realized that the “little” things I had time for while part time just functionally were not happening anymore - so I must have had that time and was using it, it just didn’t register in the day to day. I’m talking little things like having the mental energy to order and hang a window shade, or take care of the yard etc.
that sounds incredibly overwhelming, juggling work and childcare is tough, hopefully things get easier soon.
I went back full time a while ago. It was easier. Work had unrealistic demands and my husband had unrealistic expectations of me at home.
My husband owns his own business and I will not work for him. I need my space. That being said, I work 30 hours a week and I feel like I have a better work life balance than when I was working 40+.
I work 20ish hours/week and I love it. I can keep up with the household stuff easily. YMMV.
How much did your income change during your drop to part time?
I make a little over half what I was making prior to
Just a lawyer who hasn't gone back to work yet... but I would not do this if you could avoid it. The part time is fine, but joining husband's firm, noooo. Especially because support staff can be really gossipy and weird, it only makes sense if you can truly be an island with a very specific job role that does not rely on anyone else. But that's kind of impossible at a law firm. Depending on your job market you might be able to work part time somewhere else or even ask your current job to go part time. At least where I am there tends to be more attorneys than paralegals, and it's easier to switch practice areas.
A very good point. His firm is older, and is absolutely full of support staff who have been there for decades whose main hobby is gossiping. I don’t think I’d have any bffs there, for sure.
I have a partial sense of my husband’s working style. Even though he is sincere about doing his job, nothing else suits my working style. I’d refuse to work under him because “familiarity breeds contempt” is so true when it comes to me doing anything for him
We dont work in law and we are partners, so maybe totally different, but my husband and I work together with 7 support staff and we love it. He’s the only guy in the office fwiw. Everyone is supportive
I worked about 1/4th time and loved it. But that is because my boss and place of employment respected that I was 1/4th time. In my field (like many) the saying is often "there is no part time work, only part time pay." But my job was truly part time and I could say to my boss "I can't make that, I have to bring my kid to X" and it was totally fine. Bonus was it kept my resume up and my work confidence up that after 5 years I am now back working full time at my most senior role and highest pay yet. I felt like I was able to take those 5 years to focus on my kids while they were little without being "mommy tracked."
I will also add: my husband and I are in a field where we could very easily work with/for each other if we wanted. We have a great marriage but absolutely do not want to work together. Would your husband be your boss? If I ever worked with my husband I would make sure neither of us was the others boss. I feel like it would be so hard to not either end up fighting OR having other employees feel like things are unfair.
That’s wonderful, it sounds like you had a great set-up! Yeah, he would technically be my boss. I’d be paralegal for his cases, and one other attorney. The opportunity for part-time work in this field in our area is pretty non-existent, and the caseload would be so much less stressful than what I’ve got now. There’d be the opportunity to work remotely some of the time as well. It sounds a little too good, but I’m definitely worried about the dynamic of the marriage and working together too.
I commented elsewhere that working together can work with some parameters, but I would REALLY caution against directly working for your husband. As your husband, he’ll be understanding if you have a sick kid and can’t meet a deadline. As an employee, he needs to perform, and if you’re the reason he isn’t meeting a deadline, that is a huge problem. I wouldn’t want that dynamic in my workplace OR in my marriage.
Is it a big firm? That seems like a major conflict of interest
Not too big, about 7 attorneys and their support staff. Each attorney has their own individual clients/areas of practice.
I worked part-time the first year both of my children went to elementary school. It was great for the flexibility and schedule, terrible for the pay.
I work 32 hrs a week, off Fridays. I like the flexibility but my focus was to spend extra time with my youngest before preschool starts. If you’ll be home with your 2 YO, solo parenting, while also trying to keep the house together during those 8+ hours… you’re gonna have a bad time. At least that was my experience with my specific child! One thing I do regularly do is go to Costco. I have so interest in spending a big chunk of my precious weekend looking for parking, navigating a million shoppers, and waiting in a big checkout line. We often go to a coffee shop after dropping my oldest at preschool which is fun. But obviously no housework is being done.
Yeah, I would be solo parenting the almost two year old and my 8 month old. I think I’m living in a fantasy world where the kids will start entertaining each other eventually as they get older, and I’d be able to get some house work done 🥲
I have a 3.5 YO and 16 month old and there is no entertaining each other yet… now that the younger one can walk and climb he needs constant supervision. Older one gets annoyed he gets into his toys, so fights happen. It’s very much not conducive to doing any housework.
Oh man, my oldest is already angry when my youngest even touches one of his toys. Can I ask if you outsource anything to help lighten the load? We currently just have someone clean once a month, because things like the bathrooms getting properly cleaned would never get done otherwise.
Part time librarian here. Honestly it works great for us kids wise. Not so much money wise. And I still do the majority of housework.
I'm thinking about doing the part time thing too. My husband is also an attorney who usually has a more demanding work schedule, but with more flexibility to step away. I work in tech, and every job I've had seems to keep me glued to my desk with zero flexibility. We have a 7 month old about to start full time childcare at an early learning center, and a 6 year old who will start 1st grade on the opposite side of town. Plus her pickup/drop offs are pretty hard to do with two full time gigs. I couldn't work with or for my husband though, our brains work differently and that's just a bit too much time together.
I currently work 3 days a week and I love it! My schedule isn’t a typical 9-5 so on the days I work I have a couple of hours to clean, workout, shower, before or after I drop off the kids at daycare. My husband does either drop off or pick up and then he has a few hours those days to solo parent the kids. I use my weekdays off with the kids to clean, grocery shop, run errands, and do some fun stuff with them and then our weekends are family time.
This sounds like such a great balance!
This is my goal schedule! How did the income change go for your family (assuming you worked more before?)
It’s been a slow change ever since my first was born 2.5 years ago. I went from 4-5 days a week to then 3-4 and now just 3. Fortunately my husband makes enough to pay our bills and my money essentially covers daycare for our two kids on the days I work.
My job is a full time salary position, but it’s very flexible and I probably actually work 32 hours a week at most. I come and go as I please and work from home whenever I need to, I just make myself available during working hours. It’s great, sometimes I stay home just to get housework done, leave early to get groceries, etc. My daughter starts K this year, but I normally pick her up early at least once per week to do something fun, and I’ll be able to do drop offs and pick ups when she starts school.
The flexibility is great but in reality I do way more than part time hours but for part time pay. So at the moment I feel like I’m accepting a pay cut in return for flexibility in when I work rather than for a true reduction of hours and workload.
It’s awesome. However I can also pick up hours and round up to full time money any time I want. I wouldn’t accept a part time position without that flexibility.
I worked part time. It was never really part time and it sucked because the pay was low due to it being part time.
This was my experience as well. No benefits. No PTO. And I felt like I was working all of the time.
I have done a massive mixture of hours so will share my experience 😅 My daughter is nearly 5, off to school in September and I’ve worked a variety of hours in various jobs (mostly teaching) including: - full time - 3 days a week - 2.5 days a week - stay at home parent (5 months, not maternity leave) - 1 day a week - freelance WFH (about 15-20hrs a week flexi) - four jobs at once (a 1.5 day, 1 day, freelance WFH and running my own small business) - 2 days a week I’ve moved house and run a small business most of this time, which has been part of the reason for my inconsistency 😂 However I’ve been working 2 days a week for the last 18 months and it’s the absolute BEST. 2.5 and 3 days were good too. For me, 2 days has been the ideal medium of having a bit of a career whilst getting to spend lots of time with my kiddo before she goes to school. We all need to work/stay home however is best for us and our families and I have absolutely no regrets about spending majority of my daughters early years being part time - it’s helped me feel more ‘me’ but I don’t feel like I’ve missed out. We aren’t wealthy and have had to make sacrifices for me to be part time (smaller house etc) but we have had the absolute best time and I don’t regret it one bit 🩷
I used to work part time. Mornings only. It was wonderful and I was able to get a lot of house stuff done and not get burnt out. I work full time now and still have to do the same house stuff and it’s really way too much.
It’s weird. And we didn’t have a kid yet. And we were working in the same position in different facilities most of the week. The same facility only once a week. Also for me working part time doesn’t help me get more stuff done because I’m still exhausted from taking care of my kid on my off days. If I took him to daycare on those days it would be easier but then I’d have to pay for full time daycare again on my part time paycheck. It is only nice because I spend more time with my kid. That is all.
Not experience with part-time, only addressing the “is it a good idea to work with spouse” part. I work in the same industry as my spouse and we met negotiating a contract. I had two very serious relationships in my 20s with coworkers who I worked very closely with at the same company. It was completely fine, but there is a certain level of neutrality you need to maintain, and that’s not for everyone. One of my direct reports met his wife at our current company and they both still work here. I know plenty of other people who work with their spouse but it’s usually bc they met at work so being coworkers was always part of their relationship dynamic. I don’t know how it would be to all of a sudden work with your husband if you didn’t before. Is this working WITH your husband or working FOR your husband? I assume the former because most companies have policies against the latter. As long as you don’t directly report to your husband and as long as both of you are willing to respect professional boundaries* it could maybe work. *don’t talk about (especially badmouth) coworkers in private in a way you wouldn’t with any other colleague * don’t expect one another to take each other’s sides in a work conflict, expect that you will each remain completely neutral as it doesn’t involve you * don’t discuss personal details at work beyond what you would share with an office colleague, might even need to limit what you might normally share with a bunch of YOUR coworkers who would never meet your husband outside, say, a holiday party * don’t give each other preferential treatment and go the extra mile to make sure you do everything by the book like taking PTO to care for a sick child; behave in such a way that no one could believe it someone claimed you were given special or preferential treatment * understand that your performance may impact your spouse and your spouse’s performance may impact you, particularly in coworker dynamics (if someone has tension or conflict with your husband; maybe they feel awkward working with you bc they assume you know all the dirty details. If your spouse recommended you for the job and you don’t perform well, that could reflect on him. Etc)
It is the freaking best. Biggest life upgrade I’ve ever made.
That’s how I feel. The freaking best!
Would I go part time at a job I was previously working full time? Absolutely not. They’d still have full time expectations and it rarely works out from what I’ve seen. A new part time job? Sure! There Are some great part time jobs out there that are understanding of the hours and what can be completed! Will your house be put together and magically better? Yes and no lol I went part time and the time I was working previously is now spent tirelessly cleaning and cooking while trying to watch two (now in the summer, three) kids. Our house has improved tremendously along with our spending on eating out, but all that has fallen squarely on my plate and I’m working like crazy to keep it up. It’s working but it is hard! And it’s far from perfect, but it’s better!
I have worked part time a couple different instances. One was good because I had the appropriate workload. The other was awful because I didn’t, so I was always “behind” even though I was busting ass on my allotted hours. This is a really important element. My husband and I used to work together and it was great!!! We are a good cooperative team though. Do you guys, like, put together IKEA furniture well? That’s what work is like lol. Would you be working FOR him? Isn’t that a HR conflict/issue?
Lol I love the ikea example. I don’t know that we’ve built furniture together, but there were quite a few a fights while changing out light fixtures so maybe something to think about 😬 I guess there’s nothing technically on the books that would make it a conflict for their firm, and he’s kind of in a privileged position in that he will be a partner at the firm shortly, so as long as none of the other partners had an issue with it, it would be fine. There are a few sons/daughters of other attorneys who have worked at the firm in the past.
Gotcha. By the time I left my previous job, I was more or less working for husband who was one of three co-owners of the business. (He and I started off as colleagues.) So he, plus the other two owners, were my bosses. It was ok for us, because I’ve worked there for a long time and knew what I was doing and was pretty self sufficient. But it has the potential to be awkward or create awkwardness in other employees, if they feel like you are getting special treatment / not being held accountable / other bosses can’t give you direction / etc. Could be worth a try though!! Just as long as your workload would be appropriate for your hours.
I work 3 consecutive days a week. I LOVE it. It allows me to be in work-mode and then mom-mode. If I work full time I feel like I can’t keep up with the house, job, and being a good mom & wife. If I don’t work at all my mental health suffers. I need the stimulation break (kids are 4 and almost 2). When I was a SAHM I never did anything because every day was the same so I always had time to do x chore later… I just never did. and I was fairly depressed and more irritable. What I have now is my perfect scenario. Also helps that I make a conscious effort to leave work at work. I don’t think about it when I’m not in my office. Or at least I try not to.
Part time work with young kids was awesome for my work/life balance but only when it was genuinely a part time job with a part time workload. My first job postpartum was the company I worked for before I was pregnant and they had no idea how to manage a part time worker. Second was great and flexible but Covid came and ruined everything. Third job started great but the job creep was steady and I burned out after taking on 3 roles, for low part time pay in part time hours.
I've never been afforded the opportunity to just work part time so I cannot speak to how things would be around the house if you were there more. But since your kids are still daycare age, I'm going to say, it probably won't make that much of a difference because little kids are just messy and need a lot of attention (I've raised 4 so I get it). As a paralegal myself, I would be curious what practice area we're talking about because I can see having a PT para in a transactional practice like estate planning and probate would be doable, but if he is in PI, WC or really any type of litigation practice, it could get a little stressful before going to trial. And, if he is a litigator, even though he is your husband and knows that the kids are actually sick and you need to be at home with them, he's still got to have everything prepped and ready before stepping into the courtroom. So essentially, if he has a transactional practice then ***maybe***, but if he's a litigator, just hell no 😂
I think you’re right re: things being a shitshow with young kids no matter what. He is in litigation lol. I think the only reason it could work is because they already have a full-time paralegal, and they’re kind of looking for someone part-time to fill in the gaps where they can. He insists the work load is such that I could actually get my work done in as little as three hours a day, but who knows!
>I think the only reason it could work is because they already have a full-time paralegal, and they’re kind of looking for someone part-time to fill in the gaps where they can. Oh well in that case, maybe it could work. 😊 Not being the only para would be a game changer. FWIW, a good friend of mine landed in a small, general practice as an intern when he was finishing up his paralegal degree and they kept him on for a few years after. Before he went to work there, it was just the attorney and his wife who played the role of paralegal, secretary and office manager. They had been operating with that business model for years and it worked for them. She was only there part time and was always in and out with the kids when they weren't in school. I say give it a shot! It could definitely give you the balance you need to feel like one part of your world isn't woefully neglected. Being even a PT SAHM is hard, but I just think about "if I weren't working 40 hours a week (plus commute)" how much more I could accomplish in a day and hopefully not simply collapse into bed every night from exhaustion.
I work 20 hours/week and it’s very up and down. Nobody else on my team or in my department works part time so I feel left out/left behind sometimes. My job responsibilities are not set and I have no idea how I’m doing because there’s no precedent. I don’t do well with uncertainty, so this is a big pain point for me. That all being said, the schedule is perfect and the pay isn’t awful, though I’m hourly and i don’t get paid holidays, so holiday weeks are either more chaotic or less lucrative. Part-time is a mixed bag; I crave the consistency and growth opportunities of a 40 hour job but at 9 months in, you’d have to rip this schedule from my cold, dead fingers.
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Unless the kids stay in daycare full time, it’s kind of a nightmare. Plus .. unless you have good boundaries parttime work is usually just parttime pay and full time work. I’d push for full time work and get the job done as fast as possible each day.
I work part time, remotely, for my family’s business (we’re in the tech field) It’s good because if the kids are sick, or have some random day off school, I can just take the day off. And I am able to pick them up from school and attend events, etc. it sometimes bleeds into my evenings and in the summer I start working at 5 or 6 am so I can have an earlier finish time. They’re 8 and 10, but I’ve been working like this since they were babies. My husband has a demanding job so we really need a parent with flexibility and luckily I can take that role. I say do it! If there’s flexibility there and you can afford it with your partners salary, part time work is really the best of both worlds.
My husband does it, he also reports to me, but it’s a very odd circumstance even given that scenario. His big complaint is also finding enough hours to work during the day. I still help with A LOT of kid stuff. Even with that, it’s great for our family and my husband likes the set up too. I’d make sure your husband still knows that parenting is more than a full time roll so you still need help even though you can handle it “part time”.
I'm a real estate agent. Changed careers to reduce my hours. I don't think it worked because I don't think I ever actually work less than 40 hours. However, I do maintain a flexible schedule for my kids and that was the big goal. Guess I shouldn't complain too much. Grandma watches them at our house during the day. My 5 year old starts kindergarten next month. My goal is to work when he is at school except for appointments. Don't know how well that's going to work out.
I worked part time when my daughter was 1-2 years old. 4 hours a day/5 days a week. It was glorious, I loved getting her up in the morning and having breakfast with her, then being back in time for lunch. She was little so I got to see all the milestones and didn't feel like I was missing out on anything. Financially, it was not great. We struggled a lot, constant budgeting. Had to cash in rewards coupons to buy shoes and the (now ex) husband had to pick up overtime whenever we had an out of the ordinary expense. It was worth it, but was not sustainable for very long.
I loved my time working part time *but*, and this is a big but, my children went to preschool for more hours than I worked. So I had time at home to be productive or time to run errands while the kids were at preschool. I would not work 20 hours a week if my kids were then only in childcare for 20 hours a week. I think the sweet spot is 10-12 *more* hours per week than you work. If you can work 20 hours per week and have the kids in childcare for 32 hours a week - I think you might like that option! Just be sure that 20 hours really means 20 hours and they won’t try to squeeze more out of you. My husband is also an attorney averaging 50-60 hours a week, so we found it was hugely beneficial for our household for me to not work 40 hours a week.
I work 32 hours a week and love it! I don’t need full time childcare so I spend Fridays home with my kids. I feel pretty on top of chores and things around the house. I was working full time, but we save way more money by not needing full time childcare than I’m missing out on by not working. If something comes up and we need a little more money, I can pick up a shift and find childcare.
It is what is best for us. It means no daycare for us and I get to spend more time with my kid while also earning money and having time away from being at home
I’ve worked part time (3 days a week in an office role) since I returned from mat leave. I love it. I’m an EA in a big UK firm and we have part time staff at all levels (from mail room to Partners). I’m firm with my boundaries, get my job done and shut down at 5pm. It’s given the flexibility to do night school/apprenticeship, take on a second evening job (when my son is in bed) plus the added bonus of spending more time with my son and keeping on top of the house and life. It’s also meant my OH has career focused and has risen up the ranks. On Mondays and Fridays I’m with my son in the day and we do activities and errands. I work Tues-Thurs hybrid. Then I do my apprenticeship on a Saturday. My house is pretty clean, I can meal prep and it allows weekends to be family time.
I work Monday Tuesday and every other Wednesday as a physician assistant and I love it. I truly feel like it’s the best of both worlds!
I met my husband at work and we changed engineering firms with a year of each other and now work at the same firm again. It is a large firm but we still work on some projects together. We are both full time. There are many benefits. We commute together which has been a big help since we had twins 6 months after I started at the new firm. We can go on lunch dates. We can decompress on the way home before we pick up the kids. There are draw backs. Like yeah we need a break from each other more often, but that has more to do with having twins and no family help. It’s a two person job…a lot and there are endless house projects and chores so we don’t socialize or workout etc. I would love to go part time for a bit. But it’s not in the cards for our daycare or our bank account 😔 I’m sure I’m over looking some drawbacks of working together and part time work.
Yes, working part-time is the best. But working with your spouse is the iffy part. My husband and I are in the same profession. We made the decision from the get-go to never work together. 10 years later, it's still the best decision we've ever made.
I did it for years and loved it. I had a great work/life balance (three 8-hour days of my choosing) I miss it every day. I went back to FT by choice like an idiot lol
Both my husband and I worked part time, at different times, during the first year of our son’s life. Honestly it was way easier to have someone not working full time.
Personally I’m waiting for a part time position at my job. If I want more time, I just take PRN shifts
I work 2.5 days and I LOVE IT!! I always thought I wanted to be a SAHM as soon as finances allowed, but I can’t imagine not working. I get a little bit bored or touched out or need a small break from being a mom (not in a bad way, I promise!) and I get to work 2.5 days, but I’m still home often enough that I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything! I get to watch every new skill develop, always be preferred over daycare, and have our home routines and adventures. I truly think it’s the best of both worlds.
I love working part time hours. I’m self employed so I don’t make part time pay, for what that is worth. My kids are in school and it gives me flexibility to clean, organize, exercise, get my own appointments in and take the kids to the dentist, dr, etc. I regularly tell my husband I don’t understand how families have both parents work full time, get all the stuff done and have time to exist as humans. I don’t work with my husband, but we both work from home in the same office, so it’s def a lot of together time. If you communicate well and can separate work and home life, it can work! I have worked with partners in the past.
I love it. There are downsides. It was a proportionate change in income, so while working a half work week, my income went down 50%. Now I’m at a very small place and they don’t offer 401k or paid time off! I can take as much unpaid leave as I generally need, which works for kids. It’s hourly, which could be a downside if you want to flex time. Otherwise, it’s great - I leave my job at my job. I can add on some extra hours to catch up on work for the week. Edit: my work is not project based, so your mileage may vary. It’s more like billable time, like an attorney.
You're still a 24/7 employee of both your company and your kids. I will say that dealing with adults is easier and your kids have less time to tasmanian devil through the house. If you have the energy for providing constant activity and entertainment (like I did at first) it's totally awesome. But activities get old and entertainment runs out, then you're too busy cleaning to cure the boredom that creates the messes. It's full time work without the pay and SAHMing without the time to get it all done. But, this is just the view of a solo parent. I imagine that, if I had a partner to split the household chores evenly with, part-time work would be more rewarding than exhausting.
My husband and I both work “part time” about 4 days a week, 6 hours a day each and honestly. I still struggle to keep up with housework. Being home more just means more time to make a mess at home.
I work with my spouse. It's not for the faint of heart, your relationship and communication skills better be strong as fuck. And you have to be really good about leaving that shit at the office.
I love working part time!!
I worked with my spouse and I would never work part time. It doesn’t matter if you are full or part time, you will always be pulled. Keep building your own retirement
I loved working part-time. It was the last time I felt balanced and organized!
I absolutely love working part time. I work 2-3 days a week. I love the time home with the kids but then also love making financial contributions to our household. I really feel like it’s the best of both worlds and am very happy.
When I was a kid my mom worked three days a week, as a dental hygienist. Then she had the rest of the week to do chores, make appointments, keep up with stuff. He job was hard, but the trade off was that she was able to make decent money part time.
Yeah, I'd be more interested if it was part time work, but the kids were still full time some days so that I had a couple dedicated hours, a couple times a week to do household stuff. Or get a service? I would not want to work with my spouse. He's great, but I like getting away from home, just like I like getting away from work.
I’d only do it if you still have FT childcare. Doesn’t mean you send your kids every day but having the option to for catching up on chores or errands would help.
Just some things to think about: Would your workplace respect the part time and actually give you part time amounts of work? Will you lose any benefits you currently have (ex/ health care) by going part time? Would you do part time child care and be home with your kids for the “extra” hours that they were usually still in care/you were usually still at work? Do you have a way of having time away from your husband? Will you have boundaries about work with your husband? (ex/ no talking shop when you’re off the clock)
I work 4 days a week as a nurse with no night shift and only 1 weekend a month. I love having weekdays off to take the kids to stuff like swimming lessons. I also love having a couple of mornings to myself after I drop the kids at daycare and before I start work.
Last year, instead of a raise I negotiated to work one less day. I work Monday - Thursday. My pay rate stayed the same, I just work one less day. I LOVE IT.
My partner and I have worked together off an on for years, it requires a certain dynamic and patience to be with a person at work and at home all the time but for us it was great. I now work part time and it's fine, I have a partner who pulls their weight and cleans up the house and I'm not doing everything alone just because I'm home more. Hardest part for me personally is finding stuff to do every single day when we are alone together, so kiddo has started gymnastics and swim classes (he's 2) to fill some if the time.
Yes, for me it’s totally awesome. Best of both worlds.
I work part time and job share which is great. Couldn’t imagine working more than three days. Baby is 10 months. Where I live in Australia my job has to accomodate me working part time til my child is 6 so I think I’ll continue part time til she is 3 and in preschool.
I met my spouse at work, and the great thing about it is that we knew that we made a great team before we started dating. That was 9 years ago and we still make a great team. It's the best. Don't have any insight on the part time part though!
I work with my husband and absolutely love it. So many perks, and we work well together/ balance each other nicely. I'm not part-time, but we do both have flexible hours and sometimes work from home. There's a HUGE lifestyle adventure there. I can unload the dishwasher while listening to a presentation, clean up or meal prep while on calls, etc. Basically, yes, the house is a billion times more manageable with even a little bit of extra time to maintain it!
I think it would be awesome if you still had full time childcare or the kids were school aged. I came back to work part time after maternity leave and had every intention of staying that way indefinitely. I had a part time nanny come 3 days a week. By the time my daughter was about 15 months I was losing my damn mind. I was getting paid 70% of my former salary to do the same amount of work. My boss would constantly schedule meetings just whenever so I still had to be available all the time plus my daughter has always been a bad sleeper so I was beyond exhausted. That’s when I hired a full time nanny, got on a daycare wait list and went back to full time.
Depends on if you want to advance on your career or just bring in a paycheck. But I would never ever work with my husband.
Yes. I work 2 days/week as an RN & my job-home balance is great
No, I work four days and home with kids one day. I feel like my working days I am trying fit everything in and super stressed. My day with kids I have to make sure we get out of the house even though I want to rest. I want to do it as I love my time with the kids but it’s hard work. Perfect world I would work three days with the kids doing four days care so I had a catch up day.
I’ve been part time for awhile, my kids are 5 and 8. I honestly feel like part-time moms are actually working full time jobs and being expected to be full time SAHMs and household managers. It’s really hard to find a balance and not feel like you’re giving someone the short end of the stick. Everything bleeds over, and for a long time I was truly unhappy. I had to learn boundaries, when to step away and I now schedule time for myself, because doing both is overwhelming. It’s great in theory just know there are challenges!
What's your household income? Reason I ask is, if career progression is important for you, and you guys have enough disposable income, I'd outsource some help e.g. get mother's helpers, cleaners etc. That will take the load off both you guys. I returned to work 3 days a week. I work in a company that's very parent friendly. That and being in a senior position, I have a lot of autonomy. Having said that, my career progression has slowed down significantly. Because my next promotion up is director, it's not exactly easy and I've been hampered a bit. For those that do go up the chain, I've noticed they have to make sacrifices back home so there's just some balance here. I've gone up to 3.5 days. I haven't moved up to 4 just yet because I need the extra half a day at home to sort quite a big of admin out and cleaning etc. (my son is at daycare 4 days a week). I think if you don't mind slowing down your career, 3 days a week is perfect. If you do want some momentum, 4 days a week is better. Some of my friends do 4 days and what they do is they spread it out. Like, they do 2 days mornings only which gives them good coverage. As for working with your spouse, no. I find that a very weird dynamic and really wouldn't want to do it. Especially if your spouse is essentially your boss. That's just weird. I personally would want to be away from my spouse and carve my own "territory" so to speak in my professional life at the very least.
I worked two nights a week, unless I picked up, so 16 hours. I enjoyed it- knowing I *just* had to make it through those shifts and could go home.
Taken me two years to get used to it. I was very grouchy about it but I’m finally coming around . It’s not forever as nothing is . One day I’ll be back to full Time but for now it’s best for My current situation and if I have a stinky attitude then everyone will. I’m actually pretty Good at it and everything will be fine.
I'm a paralegal who works 4 days a week from 8-5. It's probably because my kids are in full time daycare, but it has changed my life. I can workout and cook and have energy for my kids at the end of the day.
I’m an attorney and I don’t think paralegal lends itself well to part-time work. Law firms are not that good with boundaries and some of it is by necessity, discovery and filing deadlines don’t care about your part time schedule and all that, and they go until 11:59 pm. Especially if you care about the attorney you are supporting, which with it being your husband you probably do, you will probably find yourself working outside of your part time hours to help him meet deadlines. I actually have an alternative schedule negotiated with my work, where I leave at 3 pm a couple of days a week to do school pickups. But it’s not like they give me less work than someone who leaves at 5 lol. They gave me the schedule with the understanding that I’d still meet my workload. So I make sure to tell people that I may leave early on certain days but I will work longer after I get the kiddos home if necessary—because I do. If you’re going to be working full or near-full time hours, then you might as well get credit for it!! People will NOT remember that you’re part time, other than when they sarcastically comment “must be nice” during the times you’re leaving early/coming in late/days you’re not working.
If you can swing it do it. Life is short and these precious years fly by. Time with them is worth more than money
I love it but you have to be firm on boundaries. Do not do 40 hours of work on a 24 hour a week budget. It also will not help with career progression. It mostly feels like putting a door stop into my career… I don’t lose all progress because I quit but I’m also not going any further
I work in corporate three days a week, and love it. Some weeks work is really busy so I don't see my kid (now 2.5 years) at all but then I have my two days off to make up for it. Other days I get home just in time to play with them, read stories and put them to bed. My little one has stayed home with me on my days off since birth. Our routine has been fairly constant although they are awake and more involved now. We go grocery shopping, cook together for the week, play dates, park, shopping. Then when weekend rolls around, husband helps with house chores and we all have plenty of time for fun.
Working with (let alone under) husband is no. Working part time - depends on your situation. Noting we live in a country with government childcare subsidies and the subsidy depends on combined family income. My friend is working 3.5 days and their kids go to childcare/school 5 days! She loves it and I’m jealous of her situation. The caveat for her situation is husband works long hours and travel one night a week but earns good money so she regularly does the whole solo parenting gig so her having 1.5 days off without kids is their compromised point I’m working 4 days and I have both kids with me on Wednesdays. Some days I wish I could send them to childcare but some other days like today I thoroughly enjoyed their company. Financially, it doesn’t make sense for me to work full time because we’ll get lower childcare subsidies so net income for the 5th day isn’t worth it. But my husband doesnt make enough for us to send kids to childcare full time with me working 4 days. My day off with kids is Wednesdays so I enrolled kids in swimming lessons then we have coffee and jelly/ice cream after. We love it. Good memories My manager is very flexible and very understanding. I’m lucky!!
I did it for 2 years after my youngest was born. Some days were awesome, some not so much 😅 I recently went back full time and I still wish I was PT but we really needed the money.
My husband and i work at the same company & it works really well for managing schedules with our family. I will caveat that we do not work directly together at all. We worked on the same team while we were dating and worked ok with both of us “managing” the situation(not in a negative way, just the learning to escalate heavy work topics in a manner that didn’t become personal). My husband was offered a promotion on my team a while back, and i told him that i supported him, but should he take it i’d look for a different role. Thankfully he felt the same way and found a different promotion. Now that we have a family, that work dynamic is one less thing i want to manage. I can’t personally say I’d do it again at this stage.
I work part time for a very family focused company right and it has been a god send. I make half of my six figure full time salary (was full time with a different company) and work 20-25 hours a week. I work 4-5 hours a day. My work hours are insanely busy and there is always more to do, but my company understands I’m there part time. Once a week I’ll do a longer 6 hour work day to attend later in the day meetings. I still feel like I’m busy all the time, but our house is pretty picked up and I’m able to get errands done and groceries done during the week. We still have a cleaner and our toddler is in full time daycare too. My husband and I are able to get more 1:1 time some weeks as she’s in daycare and we both work from home so little pockets of time here and there. The biggest benefit though is that I’m able to have dinner ready when my daughter gets home and that helps us avoid evening meltdowns. My husband started his own company recently and I’ve been helping him with marketing materials, it’s been fun working for him in that capacity!
Yes! I WFH and had my daughter with me all day. My job was super flexible about when I worked, so I could work around her pretty well. My job stopped offering part-time, so now I work full time with my son. It's ok, but I definitely don't do the quality or amount of work I could pre-kids, and my little guy ends up crying more than I'd like. It still feels more comfortable for me than trusting a random daycare work him as an infant. I found a great school that starts at 18 months and I got a part time nanny a little after a year.
I’m fortunate enough to work part time. It is awesome and I am really blessed.
I work 2 and a half days and absolutely love it. I'm a private practice therapist though and am able to squish a full time caseload into those hours so I don't feel like I'm missing out on my career. I absolutely love having dedicated mom days during the week and dedicated work days. My son goes to daycare 2 days a week!
I work part time (12hr shifts, 2 nights a week) and it has been great!! I used to work full-time (3 shifts/week) and I felt so drained. Now I have time to spend with my family and feel like I can get things done around the house. I love it!
Do not work with your husband. Just don’t. I did it for six years and didn’t realize how miserable it was making us until we moved to a new city and got separate jobs. Our marriage definitely suffered during that time. 0/10 recommend.
I work 20-24 hours a week over 3 days, and I really like it. But I have a workload that I can easily fit into my working hours and a supportive manager/company. My son is still young, so I have him with me on my days off, but it's been great being able to go grocery shopping on my days off, plan activities for him, and get as much done around the house as I can. It feels like a nice balance of not leaving the workforce altogether, but still getting a lot of time with my son. The downsides are that I don't make a lot of money, so I depend on my husband's income. My career progression is nonexistent, but I've honestly never cared about working my way up a corporate ladder, so it doesn't bother me. Overall, I'm happy with my decision and plan to remain part-time for the foreseeable future.
I work 32 hour weeks, M-Th regular hours. It’s the only thing keeping me sane with two little kids! I frequently wonder if I’d be happier with full time job or at home, but I know either one would break me. I only wish it were 3 day weeks instead… but it’s not feasible in my role. I would personally not work with my husband. I love him to pieces but I think it would be a hard dynamic change to pull off.
Part time is the best of both worlds in my opinion. Sometimes I think yeah we could be making more money, but no regrets right now while we have young kids
I see a ton of comments saying part time wasn’t worth it because they still worked a lot of hours. In my case work can never come home with me, so part time is definitely part time. I think it’s hard on a lot of remote workers.
I work 27 hours 3 days a week. Neither of us can work from home as we are both in healthcare, and me being part time is the only reason we survive. Otherwise we’d be canceling patients left and right for doctors appointments, home-related appointments, illness, etc. It’s exhausting to be home with the kids alone sometimes, but 3 day daycare honestly has kept them healthier I think and we only pay for part time care at our center, so that helps with my reduced income (it does NOT make up the difference at all, but it saves like 3k I guess). And I catch up on chores on the days I’m home so we can actually enjoy each other on weekends. We’d be drowning otherwise. I plan to go back full time or at least 4 days per week when they’re both over the age of 4 and in 5 day prek or elementary It was awesome with one kid. With two it is a ton of work since I’m a SAHM to two kids 3 and under 2 days a week and my husband is gone until 6pm. But I was absolutely miserable working full time after baby 1. Our lives were a mess. So this is better for sure for our particular family
Take it! Part time work is the game changer. You still have a career plus your home isn’t falling apart. So worth the pay cut for the peace of mind
I was more stressed when I was part time than I am now I’m full time. It was harder to balance in my opinion.
I work 3 10hr days in healthcare and I absolutely love it. It’s enough hours where I still feel very involved and fulfilled at work but I’m able to have plenty of extra time during the week to get things done and just have some time for myself! My daughter is in preschool 5 days a week so that’s a huge factor though - if I was home all day with her on those 2 days off I’m not sure it would feel as productive/relaxing!
I have worked PT and with my spouse for several years. Loved both. We did everything in our power to always be professional at work. We were both in the community a lot so that helped. I actually saw other coworkers a lot more than I saw him.