Can We Stop Calling It ‘Part-Time’?
There’s something about the phrase “part-time” that doesn’t sit right.
It sounds like a lesser version of something more serious. Like a hobby job. A stopgap. Something temporary. Something soft.
But ask any mother working part-time if her hours feel small. Ask if the mental load, the calendar-juggling, the emotional bandwidth it takes to hold work, family and identity together feels like a half-effort.
We already know the answer.
It’s Not Just About Language
Words matter. “Part-time” was supposed to offer flexibility. Freedom, even. A way to keep a foot in the world of paid work while also staying close to our children in those early years.
And sometimes, it does.
But more often, the term is used to explain away a career plateau. Lower pay. Fewer opportunities. Less responsibility. Or worse, it becomes shorthand for not being ambitious.
How many times have you heard someone being called ‘a part timer’ like it’s some kind of insult?
The irony? Many mothers working reduced hours are still doing full-time workloads, just squeezed into less time and for less money.
The Invisible Workload of Modern Motherhood
When we say part-time, we’re usually only talking about paid employment. What doesn’t show up on the HR form is everything else mothers are doing in that time:
- Managing family logistics
- Booking appointments
- Being on-call for school admin and sick days
- Meal planning, laundry, home life
- Emotional support, for everyone
These aren’t side tasks. They’re core. And they’re constant.
Calling someone part-time because they work three days a week, while ignoring the rest of what they hold, feels not just inaccurate but dismissive.
It’s Not Just a Job, It’s an Identity Shift
For many of us, ‘going part-time’ wasn’t about slowing down. It was about adapting to survive.
It’s the compromise that lets you stay in the workforce while parenting. But that choice can come with guilt in both directions – for leaving work early, and for not being available enough at home.
And it’s often the mother who bends to make it all work.
What gets lost in all this bending?
Often, our sense of worth.
So What Should We Call It?
Flexible? Possibly. But that term has been diluted too, used to mean anything from “you can log on at 10pm” to “we won’t give you a contract.”
Maybe the better question is: why do we need a special word at all?
No one calls a lawyer working a four-day week “part-time” with the same tone. Or questions the seriousness of a freelancer who sets their own hours.
The issue isn’t the hours. It’s how we value the person doing the work and who we expect to flex.
If This Is You, Here’s What Helps
If you’re navigating part-time work and it doesn’t feel like a gift right now, here are some thoughts to hold onto:
- You’re not doing it wrong. The system isn’t built for your reality, that’s not your fault.
- This season is allowed to feel hard. It won’t last forever, but it’s okay that it’s stretching you.
- Your contribution is valuable, even if it’s not being recognised properly.
- You don’t need to prove your worth by being twice as efficient. It’s enough that you’re here.
- Find your people. Talk to other women doing the same kind of tightrope walk. The solidarity helps.
A Better Way Forward
We don’t need to scrap the idea of reduced hours. What we need is to honour the reality behind them.
To redesign the system so it doesn’t rely on mothers absorbing all the friction. To stop assuming that the person with the smallest hours has the smallest ambition.
And yes, to stop calling it “part-time” like it means less of a person.
Because we all know it’s anything but.
