Part-time

Recent articles in the New York Times have addressed women, families, and part-time work. A Pew Research Center poll found that "60 percent of working mothers say they'd prefer to work part time," although only 24% actually do. One opinion piece suggests this is because there is a lack of quality part-time positions, because part-timers earn 18% less money compared to their full-time equivalents, and because most people need to work full-time to have health insurance. Another opinion piece details the reasons one mother didn't find working part-time to be a solution -- lack of flexibility in childcare meant no possibility of making up lost hours, and the constant readjustment to the office ("every day was Monday") reduced her productivity.

I work outside the home one day a week, and Craig stays home with Isaac that day. (I select materials for the adult collection of a public library, and Craig runs a group researching the chemistry of combustion at a national laboratory.) We've been doing this for nearly a year and a half, ever since Isaac was six months old, and it's been a successful solution for us. As with any work/life arrangement, however, there are compromises and costs.

There are financial costs. Although Craig is paid for his days at home (two days off per month are vacation days, and two are from his 9/80 schedule [he works nine-hour days so he completes 80 hours of work in nine days rather than ten]), I no longer earn a third of our income, as I did when I was working full-time. I do bring in a small amount of money, and we're not falling into debt, but it's going to be a long time before we can afford to finish remodeling our house.

There are professional costs. I definitely had to readjust my attitude to be able to enjoy working part-time. I love doing materials selection, and the self-contained nature of the work makes it a terrific part-time job, but I sometimes miss being part of the larger picture. I used to manage the library's Youth Services section and be part of the administrative team, and it was hard to reduce my scope and accept that I was no longer responsible for the big decisions. And poor Craig feels like he's constantly falling behind -- he works 40 hours per week at the office, plus more at home, but that's not really enough for someone who wants to excel in his field.

The best part is that there are virtually no personal costs, and for us that was the deciding factor. I get to stay home with Isaac most of the time, which I love, but I also get to do work that interests me and have a small break from the home. Craig gets to continue his research, but he also gets to spend an entire precious day home alone with Isaac. For us, the time we get to spend with Isaac makes it all worthwhile.

We're lucky that we have a plan that works so well for us, and that we have the luxury of making a decision based on the personal, rather than the financial or the professional. Perhaps our plan works only because we're both fairly high-ranking (and highly-paid) white-collar professionals with cooperative employers and a great deal of control over our own schedules. Within reason, neither of us has to work specific days or hours. I've been able to accompany Craig to conferences this summer without losing any hours -- I simply go to work another day. If anyone in our family gets sick, or has a doctor's appointment, or even needs a haircut, the other person can adjust their work schedule to cover it. And since Craig technically works full-time, we still have health insurance through his employer.

Like I said, we're lucky.