What happens when you have a ‘portfolio’ career and all your jobs are hectic at the same time? In the eyes of some, the portfolio career is the ideal – it gives you flexibility and variety. And, don’t get me wrong, it can be fantastic, plus experience from one job can be useful in another, […] The post The workaround lifestyle appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

Just over a week ago, I was giddily calculating what to do with the extra £1,000 that was about to fall into our laps every month. That’s right: £1,000. That’s right: every month. My list included grown-up things like pension pots, career things like training courses, and fun things like takeaways and band t-shirts. Even […] The post My family diary: All aboard the Budget rollercoaster appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

The Budget has been in the headlines in connection with childcare issues, but there was a big focus on older workers too. One initiative was dubbed ‘returnerships’. It looks like a rebranding of other initiatives aimed at upskilling older workers and getting them back to work. In itself it’s not remarkable, but returner programmes have […] The post Returning to work after a break: lessons from mums appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

Childcare has dominated the Budget headlines and the many challenges it faces, after years of neglect, from staffing to chronic underpayment of Government subsidies. At the root of them all – and this goes for health and social care too – is how much we value care and the – mainly – women who do […] The post Fixing the childcare system appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

There has been a lot written – particularly on social media – about the Government’s childcare offer, which mainly applies to England. It’s a lot of money, but the devil, as always, is in the detail. Childcare is on its knees in the UK. One of the main problems is caused by the so-called free […] The post What is the point of free childcare if nurseries go under? appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

Budget Day is finally here and we wait to see what the Chancellor will come up with. There are so many families struggling, not just with childcare, but with caring generally, rising costs, fears about the energy cap being lifted and worries about overstretched and mainly female-dominated public services, with a two-day strike by teachers […] The post Is gender equality going backwards? appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

So it’s the Budget this week and we’ve been building up to it for a while with childcare – at least the early years variety – finally likely to get a look-in after years of being overlooked. I recall Kemi Badenoch as Minister for Equalities telling a Women & Equalities Committee meeting not so long […] The post Childcare and the Budget: what next? appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

What happens when all your children are pre-teen or teenagers or older? I only ask because only son has gone full pre-teen and is demanding that I don’t interrupt him during calls with his friends and that I am not, under any circumstances, allowed to call him by any of the many affectionate nicknames I […] The post Growing up is hard…for parents appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

Felicity Jackson is a highly experienced clerk who has for years advised her school’s governors on the intricacies of staff pay, absence hearings and financial reporting. And yet she’s paid just £11.59 per hour – barely £1 an hour over the National Living Wage. There are up to 10,000 Felicitys across the country. The vast […] The post Why school clerks and governance professionals deserve a fair wage appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more

Childcare is everywhere at the moment in the run-up to the Budget and the lead-up to International Women’s Day – even though childcare should not be just a woman thing. It feels as if the shared parenting thing has gone backwards of late and it is just assumed – as it has been for many […] The post Childcare moves up the political agenda…at last appeared first on workingmums.co.uk ..read more