Mums - How Do You Make it Worth It to Work?

acl2009

It works for us by me only going back to work part time since having our DD. I work 21 hours a week which is one 9 hour day and one 15 hour night on an 8 day rotational basis. I'm very fortunate that even working 0.50% FTE, my salary isn't much lower than some full time salaries in some sectors of the market.

DD goes to a childminder on my day shift at a cost of £45 for the whole day. My night shift; my mum helps between me leaving for work and DH coming home in the evening, and him leaving and me coming home in the morning. Without my mum for this couple hours help when I'm on night shift, it would be very hard for me to stay in the job I love.

neverdespairgirl

It was a real concern for us when I was pregnant, because both OH and I are self-employed, and have to work odd hours, and travel all over the country, sometimes at quite short notice.

It became clear to us pretty quickly that we couldn't use either a childminder or a nursery, as sometimes we would need care earlier or later than either would provide.

Mine was the sort of job where if you take a break of 3-4 years, you have to start at the beginning again, and that might not even be possible. it's also not the sort of job where you can easily work part-time or flexible hours. I'm a barrister, and when I'm in court fixing a trial date, you can't say to the judge, "second to fourth weeks of October's fine for me, but I only work Mondays to Wednesdays".

For the first couple of years after I went back to work, it was actually costing me money to work, as our childcare cost a bit more than I was earning. That's no longer the case, and we knew it wouldn't be.

I was 27 when my son was born, which is very young at the Bar - no other female barrister I know has had a child before 30, and most start in their late 30s or even later.

we have a nanny, who has been with us since Isaac was 3 months old (he's just turned 8) and it's worked very well for us indeed. Isaac loves her, she loves him, and she's essentially part of our family (she doesn't live with us).

Downsizing__for_sanity

We have managed by recruiting an au pair girl. Each (now on our third) has become part of our family and have come over for holidays since. I am a medical student and have odd hours - sometimes only 10 hours classes, sometimes 40! My husband often works abroad so we run it as a one parent family and when he is here it is a bonus. For £80 a week I get 25 hrs childcare and 2 nights babysitting. You do have to have enough space to have someone living in the spare room though. However, the extra babysitting keeps us sane - sometimes we just go out for a drink to the local on our own, sometimes I go to Zumba when DH is abroad. Either way my husband and I get to talk and connect without the kids or I get some space to do exercise when he is away. I know it might not work for all, but it does for us. The govt treat us for benefits sake as if I do nothing all day, so no child tax, working tax credit, child benefit etc. We are just working to the plan that when I qualify as a doctor I will eventually accrue pension conts as well as get paid a decent wage. (Although I have to pay my fees, travel, subsistence etc - get nothing for free. It costs us a LOT per month!)