I feel the same. All my peers in their 30s work full-time, as in over 40 hours a week, unless they're a woman with babies/young children or are disabled. But mothers my age used to work full-time before they had children. But me, I work 25 hours a week and have never worked more than that before.
Even people in their 20s or 30s who aren't planning on taking out a mortgage or aren't raising children or anything still work full-time, simply because physically they can (most don't have age-related ailments yet).
But the reason I don't work full-time is because when I left college I didn't walk straight into a full-time job like other people seem to be able to do. I done voluntary work and was on unemployment (job-seekers) looking for work without any luck. It wasn't until I was 22 was when a part-time job came up (18 hours a week) that I got offered. It was hard, manual work, and so I was happy doing the 18 hours. The job I'm in now was advertised as 20 hours a week, and now I'm working 25 there. I can't really do any more hours because most of the work there is evenings, there's very little to do during the day. So there's no point me adding more hours just to sit twiddling my thumbs.
I wouldn't really want to have two jobs, as I would find that too stressful. This is why I'll never take out a mortgage, because that demands you to have to work full-time, even if you have kids. My cousin and his wife had a mortgage and both in well-paid jobs but still had to work full-time when their children were babies, so the babies had to go to nursery 5 days a week, 8-5. Can you believe that? I don't know why people bother with mortgages if if means you have to work forever and hardly see your kids. My parents done the right thing by staying in council, as my mum could afford to be home most of the time so was always there for us.
26 Jul 2026, 8:46 am
