Do people with kids work *harder*?

[haty]

@quantumboy7 What’s a “raise”?

 

[123ab]

@quantumboy7 Where I live a 2% raise is actually a pay cut due to inflation being much higher.

 

[quantumboy7]

@123ab Absolutely, same here! I'm right outside of NYC and a 2% raise gets eaten up by my buying a pack of fresh fruit I'd love to ask my CEO what his fuckin' raise was this year.

 

[for_crying_out_loud]

@quantumboy7 Yep, I used to jump at opportunities for extra work, now I do the bare minimum. No complaints from anyone, and get the same raise.

 

[quantumboy7]

@for_crying_out_loud Exactly, same here. I save my energy for my family

 

[123ab]

@davidjohnn51 The only thing that it does is cause strain between you and your kids. Kids notice why mommy is always working and ask about it. It’s just not worth it to me. As long as I’m able to get my work done within my work hours, which I am able to do. I see no benefit in overworking just to “prove a point”. I also commute 45 minutes each way. So 2 hours of my day is spent driving when I’d rather be with family.

 

[clg317]

@davidjohnn51 Yes. I worked my butt off in my 20’s and early 30’s. All the opportunity and advancement I thought it would get me never happened. This is industry-specific, but I was in a low paying very competitive creative environment. I got laid off after 9 years, absolutely crushed. Will never give so much of myself to a job like that again. Young people now have online access to a million stories like mine so they might feel like they can skip a few painful steps like sacrificing your personal life.

 

[wearethechristiangems]

@whitm11 We’re all curious where the properly paid younger folks are at too. Because if you want people to work hard, you gotta value them right, and corporations are not doing that.

 

[steveo52988]

@whitm11 They’re busy having a good work life balance.

 

[rockmountman]

@whitm11 Working hard doesn’t get you success / raises / job opportunities. You’ll get the same 2% raise whether you half ass it or kill yourself. On the flip side everywhere is skeleton crews so you’re not about to be fired unless you’re doing something unsafe / illegal. You are a warm body who can check some boxes for things that need doing. I’m an older millennial with kids and I stopped trying hard a while ago because there’s no point. Also your company will lay you off in a second without a thought.

 

[dpfocanil]

@whitm11 I do just enough work to meet my goals within my work hours. I’m not crushing myself for a company who DGAF about me

 

[jcox64]

@whitm11 I bust ass at work and am highly efficient, but I definitely don’t work overtime unless it’s absolutely necessary.

 

[mikegray]

@jcox64 This is me! I think I work a lot smarter now that I have kids. Im only working ~7 hours a week/ day but kicking ass during that time and getting much more done than I used to.

 

[diananwshiro]

@jcox64 This is key! Work smart and efficiently to get shit done. It's not something that everyone does well.

I see this a lot as a manager, I feel like I have to teach it a lot more than I used to - multi-tasking, time management etc. it's an art not a science.

 

[123ab]

@whitm11 Idk. This post sorta screams boomer. I’m a senior engineer and I’m only 28. The hardest working people on my team is a 50 year old empty nester and a 35 year old DINK. I don’t think whether or not you have kids necessarily means you work harder. I have a coworker who is frequently using PTO bc he has to stay home if his toddlers get sick. There are a lot of people who also see work as 9am-5pm and if all work is done, it’s not worth sacrificing the time with family to work overtime.

I commute 45 minutes each way. You can bet that I log off right at 4pm so I can get home and send precious little time with my family. There is no way I’m regularly going to work overtime. Nothing is that important. Granted every now and then something may come up but I definitely don’t make a habit of it.

It’s also been studied and proven that you don’t need to work for 8 straight hours. Most work takes a few hours to finish. No one is actually being productive by working for 8 straight hours with no breaks, the brain doesn’t work that way.

It’s a personality issue for sure. Not whether or not you have kids.

 

[flapeds]

@123ab This! But with a twist.

I don’t think it’s “boomer” to be 35, but it is true that workers under 30 have never experienced true recession (just pandemic).

I graduated during peak Great Recession. I believe entering the job market underpaid and as a contract worker formed me into an overtime worker. Like the ants and the grasshopper but with a mortgage.

 

[heegar]

@123ab

No one is actually being productive by working for 8 straight hours with no breaks, the brain doesn’t work that way.

My ADHD hyperfocus begs to differ (clearly this isn’t one of those days as I sit at my desk unable to focus)

 

[dusk777]

@whitm11 I definitely am a hard worker but I don’t work overtime. I don’t think clocking out at 5 pm makes you a slacker. Missing deadlines with no acceptable excuse / communication is certainly a problem though that I wouldn’t be happy with myself about.

 

[bp3113]

@dusk777 Yeah that sounds like a management or culture problem if it keeps happening, not a problem with The Youths specifically.

 

[crimsonlove]

@whitm11 Having boundaries is even more important now that i am a parent. Working late is a sign of poor planning or some other issue. That doesn’t mean I don’t work hard, though. And it can mean that I may adjust my hours and work outside of 9-5 if i had to take a break to childcare during the day.