How did you decide whether to work full-time/part-time, study full-time/part-time?

[samy23]

How did you decide on full-time or part-time work or/and studying?

[snarky]

My immigration status depended on returning to the full time job I had before I had my daughter. This was a no-brainer.

[dawningmama]

I worked full time for a long time for a lot of reasons: that was all that was available at my pay grade, we needed all the money as we were saving for a house, our schedules allowed for it (dp and I worked opposite shift), I physically could as the babies were very young and I could still grab a nap here and there. I switched to part time about 4 years ago because the FT hours were quite literally making me sick----I was ill all the time, over-exhausted and I missed my husband. He was making better $$ by then and we had already bought the house and my wage had increased to a point where I could decrease my hours and we could still cover our expenses.

[Peony]

There is no way I could work more then part time. DH works well over 60 hours a week, a 60 hour week would be considered a "great" week in my house. I do everything child and house related, because DH is just not able to. When he is home he is usually still working. This was an arrangement we had far before children because he makes more money an I as an RN can.

[momtoTnT]

I've done both PT and FT and the reason has almost always been financial.

After our my oldest (DS) was born, I went back FT - we quickly realized that the cost of daycare ate up almost my entire check - my boss and I worked out an agreement where I could work PT (3 days/week) AND get a raise, and I found different childcare that would take him PT at a PT rate. My DD was born 15 months after my DS - having 2 in daycare was almost impossible to swing financially, but so was losing one income all together, so my DH also adjusted his work schedule at this time too (he worked 4 10's) so that we could further save some money on childcare costs (only needing 2 days/week).

We did this until about 2 years ago when our childcare situation/DH's work situation changed - I found a better provider who would take both of my kids FT for a lesser daily rate than what I was paying for PT care, and DH got a better paying job (we were paying $205/week for 2 or 3 days/week - our new provider charged us $325/week for 5 days). I went back to FT at that point as well and it's been the best decision for our family.

[GuildJenn]

A great job came up.

[Skippy918]

Part time really isn't an option where I work (I'm an engineer), so I went back full time on a 7-4 schedule.

[Quinalla]

Originally Posted by Skippy918

Part time really isn't an option where I work (I'm an engineer), so I went back full time on a 7-4 schedule.

Same for me, except I am doing 7:30-4:30.

[akayerich]

It's all about finances for me. I work as much as I have to to pay the bills. Which right now means working 2-3 days per week. If DH started making more money and/or we paid off all our debt, I'd probably start working less.

[EFmom]

There are no good paying professional part time jobs in my field in my geographic area.

I also had tenure at a university pre-child. I couldn't walk away from that.

[annethcz]

The only reason I'm working at all is because a fantastic part-time job landed in my lap. Before this I was a SAHM, and we can live comfortably on my DH's salary.

I will likely go back to work full-time in a few years when my kids are even older (maybe once my oldest is able to drive himself & his siblings around), to further our financial goals.

[1jooj]

I started my job at PT, then increased to FT, then went back to PT--wait, there's more--then resigned, then went back PT with a lot of flexibility. My reasons involve time and home commitments. My dh travels for extended periods. I need the flexibility to keep up with two kids and a small farm. I was a nervous wreck before working out this agreement.

I could stay at home entirely, but we've been able to make strides developing the farm with the extra income, and I truly enjoy my work, workplace, boss and colleagues. I'm fortunate. But if we were both still working FT, it would be a complete disaster.

[ALittleBitCrunchy]

My job does not have a part-time option so I am full-time. Honestly, PT at about 30 hours a week would be incredibly convenient...but walking away from my job, seniority, time off, etc isn't worth a temporary reduction of 10 hours. If I intended to stay PT forever, it would be different, but for now the status quo works.

[Ianthe]

I started going to school PT when DS1 was 3 months old as a way to get out of the house and be able to interact with adults (mostly ). I increased to full time because PT wasn't challenging enough. I recently received a full scholarship at a university so I have to attend full time in order to get it, so.... that's that!

Over the course of a year I also worked PT as a BF Peer Counselor at WIC, and since I want to be a IBCLC, I considered those hours as school related.

I want to finish school because I'd really like to have a good paying job/career to work when my kids start school. I am not the kind of person that can stay home all the time, I get really stir crazy! While my kids are still so young though, school is plenty to keep me busy.