My partner and I are in our 20's (luckily still living at home!) in October of next year my partner will be a qualified primary teacher - he has done so well and I'm incredibly proud of him - I've always wanted to start a family young and be a stay at home mum, my question is - What's It like living on a teacher salary..? Is it doable to be a stay at home mum? I obviously would work full time untill ready to have a baby but would love to stay home for a couple of years rather than send them off to day care - are there any teachers out there or spouses who could offer some advice?
Thanks
5 Replies
I don't know anyone living on a teachers salary but I know that even if you went back to work after having a baby it wouldn't be that worth while as cost of childcare is ridiculous. Unless you just went back to work 1 or 2 days a week? I was able to be a stay home mum while with ex who was a tradey and his annual income wasn't that high I'm now single and work in childcare but still make it work. If it's something you really want to do I'm sure you can make it work expecially first yr with maternity leave and other benefits available it's all about budgeting and living within your means. I don't think it would be that hard but if money is so tight you can always do small jobs from home :)
The difficult bit would be him finding a full time position right away, you might need to consider relocating for remote/rural placements, wherever the jobs are at the start of his career.
Teachers aren't badly paid, its liveable. However factoring the workload it doesn't work out to be very well paid. He will be working hard, long hours & need a lot of support his first year too.
You need to do the sums and compare to the standard of living you expect and what area you live in. I know teachers who do it but would depend on wether you expect to drive new cars, cost of housing and what expenses you take on.
My Ex partner earned less than 35k a year when we had our first child, i'm sure a teachers salary is more than that. When i went back to work I made sure my job worked around his hours and didn't use daycare. He had our son at night while he slept and I had him during the day while he was awake and worked at night.
I think it would be very doable. My husband earns less then a teacher and we live off the one income with 3 children and a mortgage and have done so for 6 years.