Mum & Career
on October 28, 2019

Next steps: Your Options for Returning from Maternity Leave

Word collage shaped like two hands shaking, with the phrases "BACK TO WORK" and "WORK BACK TO" repeated in black and purple text.
4 min read

We don’t need to go into the in’s and out’s of your new-look life – it’s there for all to see.

Once upon a time your career might have been top of your priorities list, but now it’s treated slightly differently. It might still be up there, but there are of course “other” things that you are now responsible for.

Well, the purpose of today’s article is to delve straight into that topic, and find out some of the real-life options that new mothers have after having their baby and returning from maternity leave.

Return to work as normal

Well, let’s get the simple option out of the way to start with. Then again, while it might be classed as simple, as some of us might know it’s actually really difficult to carry out.

Some people may head off onto maternity leave with every intention of returning to work on a full-time basis, but there’s a reason it doesn’t always happen. Sometimes it’s financial (we don’t need to start about the cost of nursery fees), but quite often it just proves very difficult to pull yourself away from your little one on a full-time basis.

So, while it might be your aspiration, whether or not it happens might be debatable.

Return to work on a part-time basis

A more common option comes in the form of returning to work on a part-time basis. Admittedly, this might not be possible for all of you and it will depend on the company that you work for.

However, whether it is returning to work for three days or four days a week, the part-time option is appealing. Granted, you won’t receive all of your salary, but it might be enough to keep you going whilst still giving you the chance to spend half of the week with your little one.

Furthermore, the rules on flexible working have been relaxed over the last few years, which might help your plight somewhat.

Join the gig economy

While returning on a part-time basis might be popular, it doesn’t compete with the gig economy.

As we all know, this has well and truly taken over the world over recent times. It’s one of those things that might not apply to your current line of work, but it’s also one of things that takes advantage of transferrable skillsets. For example, freelance writers, translators and social media marketers are some of the most common and all involve you based in the comfort of your own home (with your little one in tow).

There are some considerations and if we were to pick one out of the bag, tax would probably be a winner. However, by consulting with somewhere like https://www.3wisebears.co.uk/, you can get your house in order and ultimately make your new-look life much easier to manage.

Head back to school

Finally, let’s give a mention to heading back to school. Again, it’s not going to be for everyone, but some new mums see this as the prime opportunity to retrain.

Sure, some of you might go the full hog and head off to university. This doesn’t necessarily have to happen though – and through the likes of the Open University you can again acquire new skills through the comfort of your own home.

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