70% of NI parents say they would like more family-friendly job

A new survey conducted by education provider Open Study College has revealed that 70% of parents in Northern Ireland said they would like a more family-friendly job than their current role.

The survey, commissioned as part of a campaign to encourage parents to pursue their dream careers, polled over 2,000 working parents across the UK with children aged 2-17.

Open Study College’s survey found almost half (47%) of the Northern Ireland parents polled had enrolled on education courses since the birth of their children, with 70% saying the key reason was to increase their earning potential.

It also emerged that, of the Northern Ireland parents polled, nearly half (49%) changed careers after having a child/children, with 59% saying they wished they had taken more time off after the birth of their children.

Other survey results included: 76% saying their priorities changed after having children in terms of wanting to spend as much time as possible with them as possible, while 43% of Northern Ireland parents believe being a teaching assistant is one of the most family friendly jobs, followed by a career in health & social care (37%).

Samantha Rutter, CEO of Open Study College said: “Each year we see a huge variety of people enrolling on our courses for a host of different reasons. This campaign was inspired by recent feedback about why people are enrolling on courses and their reasons for distance learning. Many of our learners explained that they’ve recently had a child/children and are looking to upskill to enhance their careers or to keep up with industry changes, or need to retrain because they’re looking to completely switch career paths.

“Either way it is clear that some parents are struggling when it comes to getting back into work and we believe that flexible learning can help open doors to more options for them, be that in existing jobs or the possibility of a whole new career path around their children - putting family first.”

According to additional research by Open Study College, counselling and childcare top the list of most 'family friendly' jobs for new parents who look for flexible hours and the opportunity to work from home above all – while police officers, lawyers and journalists are deemed as having the least family friendly careers.

Other top industries that offered a family-friendly work-life balance for new parents included accounting, events management, human resources, and being a teaching assistant.

The main factors new parents value most when heading back into the workplace include an understanding boss (34%) and friendly colleagues (40%).

The study also found 44% of respondents want an easy commute after returning to work post-child.

But 57% claim their work priorities didn’t change after having their first child.

And of those whose life goals did shift, 48% no longer wanted to work long hours, while 44% were finished with working at weekends.

Nearly a third (31%) changed career after returning to work after having children, with many moving into a health or social care role.