Absolutely not. It meant now doing 90% of the housework and child rearing while getting paid 50% less to do 85% of the work I was previously doing in the office. It meant doing all drop offs and pick ups and appointments but still logging back on at 9pm to work a few more hours. Just because you work part time doesn’t mean deadlines come half as fast. I had to quit and go freelance. Nothing is ideal.

It depends if the lower salary is big difference in your HHI. If you have to cut back on things like cleaners or grocery delivery, then you might be using up your time doing more chores.

I would 30 hours per week - a short day every day - and I love it. If I work more on any given day/week, I can either flex the hours or get paid (hourly) for the additional work time. It helps that I'm a high performer - in my 75% time, I basically do amount of work of a FT person but I'm only accountable for the lower number of hours.

It has given me time back to run errands, not blink at taking my kids to afterschool activities, and build in exercise and other things for myself that helps keep me sane. I plan to keep this schedule at least until my kids graduate high school (and maybe beyond - I really, really love the flexibility).

I had to change career fields and drastically reduce my salary to accomplish this. My previous field was happy to reduce my pay by 20% and reduce my in office hours, but my actual workload didn’t change.

I moved into a new field where I can mostly work while my kids are in school, but I now make about 15% of what I was making.

I didn't end up doing it, but seriously considered. At my job at the time (agency OGC) the ppl I talked to who worked 32 hours said it was great. They did get assigned less work which is key - the manager and office culture matters a ton. Most did one day off per week which felt like a more meaningful chunk of time than shorter days.

Wow you have three children and work full time?! That's crazy. I have two and I'm a SAHM and can't even imagine how hard holding down a full time job, plus caring for the children would be.

Anonymous wrote:I have three kids and have always worked fulltime. I've made adjustments at various points in my career (stepping out of management roles, moving to positions less "in the hot seat", a little more telework, etc.) but now with all three kids in elementary school, I still feel like working 40+ hours is not ideal and I want to explore the option of working part time in the near future.

Setting aside the question of finding a position (which I know isn't easy) and whether it would work for us financially, I wanted to see if other moms who switched from full to part time work found that it was sufficiently helpful in bringing work-life balance. Or, did it actually create more stress (i.e. less time to get work done but expectations to do more with kids, too much of a financial hit, etc.)? And how many hours did you work per week, since part time can be many things?

Anyone care to share their experience?

Not for me.

Employer still expects a lot. Housework is more on me and DH wants more frequent sex.

Anonymous wrote:I always felt like it would be the worst of both worlds - you still have to get up and go into the office, and then you still have to bear all the burden (possibly more than before) of home/childcare but with no outside help. And you still need childcare, plans for sick days, days off school, etc. If you could still have a cleaner, some babysitting, and a partner who doesn’t see you as his overtime maid and nanny, maybe it could work.

Partners can end up seeing you as a lazy worker though. Very common.

Anonymous wrote:I work for myself (and from home) so part time is amazing for balance in my case. However, I think it totally depends on who you work for, your boss, your industry, etc.

+1

I charge by the hour so if I have a 40-hour week, I get paid for 40 hours.* I average about 25 hrs/wk but work is always on my mind.

*Not including non-billable admin time.

No, it didn't. I tried all permutation and combination and I was never satisfied. What worked for me is being a full time SAHM, with some part-time domestic staff for yard, cleaning, food prep.

Did I generate any money for the family as a SAHM? No.

But, I tutored my kids at home, going far and beyond what a normal school curriculum offered, and cherry picked subjects and curriculum from several countries. As a result, they did well in the magnet public schools with minimal effort, breezed through all college application work without counselors, aced SAT, AP, PSAT etc, did not have to pay tuition in college, and did extremely well in college and got good internships etc - and are mentally, physically, emotionally and socially healthy.

I work for myself (and from home) so part time is amazing for balance in my case. However, I think it totally depends on who you work for, your boss, your industry, etc.

Yes, in the sense that I was previously drowning and now I’m surviving 😅

I have 3, one toddler and 2 in early ES. We have a full time nanny that averages 42 hrs / week and I work 30 and I stick to that. DH travels or works out of the house at least 1-2 days/nights per week. I stepped out of a management role and into an individual contributor role that is more compartmentalized (was always fully remote). I did take a 50% total comp pay cut which is a bit of a blow to the ego, but we’re fine.

I thought I’d have more free “me” time but it’s mostly consumed with kid activities and managing some moderate special needs, taking toddler to a mommy and me class, household stuff…and I did have a few hours on fridays totally free during the school year but not in the summer. It lets me have more 1x1 time with the kids and not feel so rushed. Previously, I’d be rushing to get everyone to bed so I could log back on for a few hours, which sucked. It’s been great to be able to sign off at 3:30 and take everyone to the park and ice cream / late bedtime while they’re still little.

I work in healthcare so it is possible for me to actually be part time unlike other fields, but I have found it to be so wonderful for our family.

Everyone is less stressed, there’s a lot of flexibility, I can be involved in our kids’ schools as much as I want to be, and I’m not wasting the years and years of higher education. I work 20 hours a week which is perfect for me. If you can find a position, I highly encourage it!

I have three kids and PT has worked best for me and my family but it’s still very busy. At my last job I was expected to be pretty close to as productive as a full timer, and I was because moms can be super efficient by necessity, but it was stressful. At my current job I am much closer to leaving work behind when I leave for the day but I still take a bit of unpaid work home with me. Full time was really hard with three kids and a spouse with a big job and long hours. Even with a nanny too much was falling through the cracks. We can afford for me to be home full time but I like working and using my education and expertise. Also, I have teens and am as busy with my kids as when they were little. There are so many orthodontist and dermatologist appointments, plus school events, college prep, and all the rest.

I think it depends a lot on the job. I worked “30 hours a week” when my kids were younger (and just 20 for a while). My career and salary stagnated but I was able to pick them up at school, take days off for field trips, make dinner every night, and generally be able to have a pretty chill family life. I probably averaged more than 30 hrs/week and during some periods much more, just due to the ebbs and flows of work and it wasn’t always stress free but it was much better than being full time. I’m really grateful for that time.

I eventually went back full-time and my career really picked up. I was lucky to be in a place that accommodated me when I was prioritizing family but also gave me opportunities to shine when I was ready and, while life is 4x as stressful now, I’m glad I had that option. For a while though I started getting really angsty that I’d let those opportunities pass me by, but that ended up not being the case at all. I know it doesn’t work out that way for everyone but it did for me.