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Almost every working mom I know who works full-time has told me that she would love to do her job but on a part-time basis. And according to a survey that came out last year, nearly 80% of women want to work part-time. Part-time work seems to be an ideal, most coveted arrangement for working moms — one that would allow us enough time to pursue our career ambitions and spend time with our kids and families.
But according to new Australian study (thanks Elizabeth for this heads up!) the reality of part-time work is far from what we might idealize it to be. The study found that many part-time workers face career dead-ends, lower incomes, and still not enough time to spend with their families. The hardest hit were women professionals, who turned to part-time work as a way to balance work and family.
This is sad news but it is, to me, not surprising.
Just this morning I had lunch with a friend who told me that she gave up a high-flying career for a job where she works a lot less hours and that fits around her kids’ schedule. She has lost a great deal of respect from her colleagues, makes less money, and often finds that because of her own work ethic, she still puts in a ton more hours. When I recently wrote about part-time work for moms here on the Work It, Mom! Blog, several members expressed their frustration with part-time work in the comments, citing similar issues as the Australian study found.
Do the findings of this study surprise you or do they make sense to you? Have you or do you work part-time? How has working part-time impacted your career and your ability to juggle work and family?
This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 8th, 2008 at 1:19 pm and is filed under Work, Work/Life Balance, Working Mom Issues, Your life.
Tags: career, flexibility, part-time work, work-life balance, working mom
April 8th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
The findings of the study do not surprise me. I haven’t worked part since I was in high school - so not since way before I got married and got my step-daughter. In some regards I can understand thinking that it would be perfect, but like most things - including fulltime work, freelancing and working from home - the grass is always greener somewhere else.
If you work the type of part-time job where you can just leave your work at the office at the end of the day, then you’re probably working a part-time job that won’t fulfill your desire to work. If you work the type of job that will fulfill your desire to work, then you will end up working more than part-time but for less pay.
Plus, lots of part time jobs don’t provide benefits. Sometimes the hours change on a day-to-day basis.
April 8th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Contracting and freelance seem to offer a better deal for part-timers (with the execption of benefits) than working in a corporate situation where the majority of people are full-time.
April 8th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Unfortunately, it doesn’t surprise me either. If you’re in a full-time professional position, it can be difficult enough to get people to respect reasonable work hours, so I can imagine that the limits would be even harder to enforce on a part-time basis. Besides, if you’re accessible via phone or online anytime, you’re never really off the clock anyway, so you do end up working more for less pay.
But as Jenni noted in her comment, many jobs that allow a part-time schedule to stick aren’t as fulfilling, and that does make options like freelancing more appealing, if less stable.
April 8th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Interesting. I’m currently working part time, as the University provides benefits for part time workers. I’m also freelancing from home. For now, this works for me. Although I’m not sure how it’ll affect my career yet, as my position is technically full time. So I’ll either have to job-share or move into another position. If one’s available. And yes, it’ll probably affect how my coworkers view me. Like I’m any less dedicated because I’m not in the office 8 hours a day every day. That part is frustrating. A few colleagues started treating me that way as soon as I announced my pregnancy. I do think it limits my opportunities in some ways, but since I’m more concerned about my family right now, I have to find what works for me.
April 8th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
(I’m just glad that the part time work covers my insurance.)
April 8th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
I am not surprise at all by the findings. I recently transitioned from full-time to part-time, and while I love being able to pick my kids up from school, I still feel like I am always working. Since I leave the office early, and nobody is really “covering” me, I am constantly checking e-mail and voicemail. It’s definately nice to be able to pick my kids up from school. The problem is that though I am physically with them, my head is often elsewhere. Or I end up on the phone or needing to respond to an e-mail. This is fustrating for me and them. And it often makes you wonder if it’s really a benefit. It’s definately a mixed blessing. I am always struggling for that “perfect” balance. I’m not sure it exists - at least where money is an issue.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
I find myself debating this on a regular basis. I’ve worked full-time, worked 3 days/week and worked 4 days/week - all for the same company. I have not seen the career consequences of working on a reduced schedule - actually, I’ve been promoted while doing it. At the same time, I feel like I’m always working - laptop out, checking email, calling into conference calls, etc. on my “day off” or working extra hours before and after to make up for the day out of the office. People expect you to be available and to get the work done (and “the work” is generally not adjusted down to reflect the fact that you are not full-time…at least not in my experience.) I often wondered whether it would be better to be full time - but then again I do love the flexibility and the extra time with the kids.
April 9th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
That is exactly why I left my part time job as a college lecturer. I was overlooked for all the opportunities and just generally wasn’t taken seriously, they behaved as though it was something I was doing for a bit of pocket money - so condescending. I now run my own business and work mostly from home (exccept when seeing clients). It can be hard but at least it’s me that decides how successful I am - no-one else.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:55 am
I recently made a job change from full time and now work in a job share. In a job share - two people share one position (and share some work projects). Both can work up to 30 hours a week. I fit my 30 hours in over 3 days and am able to receive equal benefits to my full time employees with some minimal out of pocket expenses (approx $1500) . In order to do my job in a part time capacity I got agreement from my manager to change my job responsibilities. I moved from being a people manager to being an individual contributor and now do alot more project work - this helps because it limits the time I need to be in team meetings and “present in the office”. I’m 6 months into it and I love it! My employer has been incredibly supportive - I have received rewards (verbal and monetary) for my efforts. It’s not perfect though - I find it’s hard to really know how to create a 30 hour a week job - there are ebbs and flows and you have to get comforble knowing that some weeks you will work more hours and then find a way to balance it out over the next few weeks. I’ve learned to say no to projects and meetings that I know will suck up too much time I’ve also learned to keep a constant discussion going with my manager so he knows how the part time/job share is working. I also know that my ability to advance to more senior positions will be harder now but that was a trade off I was comfortable with before I made ths change. Even though I’ve taken a hit in salary - I feel really lucky. I am able to work that I love and feel passionate about and I’m able to have more dedicated quality time with my kids . By having two days off a week I’ve found that our weekends have turned into family time - because I’ve been able to get the crappy errands done during the week -and that takes stress off of me, my husband and my kids and has made us all alot happier!