Does having a child impact your career?
Having a new-born-child can affect your working life, be that a lack of sleep or simply having to spend more time at work than you’d like.
Here at Open Study College, we asked 2,000 working parents with children aged between two and 17 some questions about their return to work after having a child.
Getting back into work after maternity or paternity leave isn’t easy, and it shows with just 18% of parents strongly agreeing to the fact that their return to work was seamless.
Whilst it may not have been seamless, 57% of people didn’t change their working priorities after their first child.
However, almost half of the people asked didn’t want to have to work weekends (44%) and wanted to work fewer hours (48%) after having a baby.
Our CEO, Samantha Rutter, said: "As we pass milestones in life, our priorities and goals can change.
“For some people, having a family is the most important thing to them and they’re happy to let their careers take a back seat.
“For others, the exact opposite is true – they want to continue excelling in their careers and will let others help more in terms of raising the family.
“Of course, it is possible to have both, which is why being in the right career or even the right company is really key.”
Nearly a third of people that were unhappy with their job post-child did something about it, with 31% changing careers after returning to work.
Many of those people decided to go into a health and social care role, which isn’t surprising when looking at the results.
Childcare and counselling are considered to be the most family-friendly careers, as they’re most likely to ease the struggle of parenting with popular benefits like flexible hours and working from home.
The accounting, teaching assistant, health and safety, and human resources fields are also judged to be the most family-friendly.
On the other hand, policing is thought to be the opposite, with lots of paperwork and late-night shifts.
Meanwhile, over a quarter of people (28%) suggest that being a surgeon isn’t a particularly family-friendly role, along with being a lawyer, journalist, or a security guard.
Samantha also continued to say: “The roles in our list are what respondents consider un-family-friendly careers.
That’s certainly not to say there aren’t positions in the police or event management that would be suitable for those with kids.
In fact, as the lists show, many consider events management, for example, to be a perfectly family-friendly job.”
20 CAREERS BRITS BELIEVE ARE MOST FAMILY FRIENDLY:
- Counselling
- Childcare
- Health and social care
- Psychology
- Teaching assistant
- Accounting
- Bookkeeping
- Event management
- Health and safety
- Human resources
- Marketing
- Nursing
- Public relations
- Leadership
- Project management
- Beauty therapy
- Physiotherapist
- Nutritionist
- Veterinary nursing support
- Estate agent
AND 10 THAT AREN’T:
- Police officer
- Lawyer
- Journalist
- Security guard
- Surgeon
- Pharmacist
- Event management
- Chief executive
- Retail salesperson
- Tour guide
If you're a parent and you feel stuck in a role that isn't working for you and your family, it's never too late to change. With Open Study College's range of online courses, you can still retrain for a new career by fitting studying in at times that suit you. With access to your learning materials 24/7 and a tutor on hand to guide you through, what's stopping you?
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Open Study College
Open Study College (OSC) have been leading the way in distance learning since 2007. Our team comprises of expert tutors, knowledgeable student advisers and a friendly student support team. Between us we have decades upon decades of experience in education and remote learning. Our blog is designed to help and guide you along the right path for you, by providing information, helpful tips and inspirational student success stories.
