Part-time is for men too — Belinda Morgan

Welcome to another Flexible Success newsletter. Each edition includes a tip, a quote, a question and an interesting read - all related to flexible work. It's designed to be quick and easy to digest, and to provide you with some food for thought for the week ahead.

Theme: Part-time is for men too

A TIP

I was at the school gate yesterday and met a parent who told me he worked four days a week. Before I could tell him how awesome I thought that was, he quickly followed up with a joke about being too lazy to work full-time.

I can't know for sure why he did this, but I'm guessing he's faced some stigma about the fact he chooses to work less. I'd also venture to say that if he was a woman he wouldn't have felt the need to make this quip.

Women (and especially mothers) have done an incredible job of driving the part-time work landscape to where it is today. But if we are ever going to achieve equality at home and at work, we need working part-time to become just as acceptable for men as it is for women. For everyone's sake!

So if you're a father who works part-time, or a manager who has enabled men in your team to work part-time, I think you should be really proud of the change you are helping to create. And if you meet a father working part-time, be sure to tell him how awesome you think his decision is!

A QUOTE

‘Part-time has an image problem. It’s still seen as a nice-to-have concession made for working mums’ ― Kate Bassett

A QUESTION

How can you contribute to normalising the idea that part-time work should be for everyone?

AN INTERESTING READ

Research shows that more than half of young fathers in the UK say they would take a pay cut to work less and spend more time with their families.

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