100% financing - I understand that!

In Denmark and Finland, strangely enough, this works quite well and has become socially established. Looking at the top spots in the so-called Happiness Atlas of countries, one might rather come up with the idea of questioning our care system. Scandinavia continuously at the front, Germany clearly behind.
More important than the purely time-based division of care between daycare and parents, it seems to me, is the quality of care provided. Whether the additional time with the child during part-time work is really always invested in engaging with one's own child, or whether the reality often looks more like Disney+ taking over care while mom is next door lounging on the couch playing on her smartphone, who knows...

Well, my statement refers to the German standard care program.
Engaging with the child, especially when it comes to upbringing and not just playing or cuddling, is work. Anyone who has children can confirm that. There is a reason why many stay-at-home moms find it quite unfair that their work is not compensated – but that is a different topic again.
The fact is: believing that one can do two full-time jobs side by side and give full effort to both is simply naive. I am not saying that this is a permanent state, but I do see the first three years as quite "important."

Of course, one can now argue that upbringing can also be outsourced (and in many cases, that would probably be a good thing), but I (!) actually prefer that the child is raised the way I (!) want and not the daycare that thinks it is right (not because I doubt their expertise, but simply because I think it is impossible given our caregiver-to-child ratio to achieve a satisfactory outcome for all sides). Besides, I want this child, so I also want to have time to engage with him – I don’t buy an expensive, new TV and then ignore it.

I find it a pity that it is always treated as if there are only two options: a) mom or dad stays completely at home for at least three years or b) the child goes to daycare after one year for 20 hours. Yet, there are so many possibilities in between. During parental leave, you basically have the right to work part-time (up to 30 hours), and employers find it difficult to refuse that.
So why always go to extremes?
I will go back to work after one year – at 20%. Just so that I am not completely out and because I simply like working. When the little one is two, I want to work 50% from home, still during parental leave. And even for that, I have already had to listen to quite a bit.

In Denmark and Finland, strangely enough, it works quite well and has become socially established. Looking at the top positions in the so-called happiness index of countries, one might rather come to the idea of questioning our childcare system. Scandinavia consistently at the top, Germany clearly behind. More important than the purely temporal distribution of care between daycare and parents, to me appears to be the quality of care provided. Whether the additional time with the child during part-time work is really always invested in spending time with one's own child, or whether the reality more often looks like Disney+ taking over the care while mom next door is messing around on the smartphone on the couch, who knows...

But I find career = full-time without overtime = biting the bullet. Everyone I know or at our bank who has made a career has to be flexible and overtime is a given. Sure, it doesn't matter who works more hours, but if you are not flexible, which you are with a child, you are out. Women who make a career with us have a nanny or a husband who works part-time.

But I think career = full-time without overtime = a contradiction. Everyone I know or who has made a career at our bank has to be flexible, and overtime is a given. Of course, it doesn't matter who works more hours, but if you are not flexible, which is the case when you have children, you are out. Women who make a career with us have a nanny or a husband who works part-time.

Why does full-time automatically mean career? And what does career mean here? Customer advisor? Branch manager? Executive board? Multiple weeks of training at an in-house banking academy between each step? Then 100 euros gross more? No thanks.

That is exactly why I resigned from the bank years ago – strange ideas about personnel development from another century combined with zero flexibility and sales pressure.

Why does full-time automatically mean career? And what does career mean here? Customer advisor? Branch manager? Board member? Several weeks of training at a bank-owned academy between each step? Then 100 euros gross more? No thanks.

That is exactly the reason why I quit the bank years ago – strange ideas of personnel development from another century combined with zero flexibility and sales pressure.

There is not only "sales" in the bank. Also administration, IT, accounting, marketing, etc. You mentioned career. And yes, everyone defines career differently.

I think career = full-time without overtime = child bites its own tail. Everyone I know or who has made a career at our bank has to be flexible and overtime is a given. Of course, it doesn't depend on who works more hours, but if you are not flexible, which is the case with a child, you're out. Women who make a career with us have a nanny or a husband who works part-time.

Don't we want to replace the term "career" with employment or professional activity? In my assessment, very few men and women, whether with or without children, actually make a career. In my opinion, the opposite of a full-time mother is not a career woman, and it doesn't have to be. Otherwise, every partner of a full-time mother would also be a career man.

Why does full-time automatically mean a career? And what does "career" mean here? Customer advisor? Branch manager? Executive board? Several weeks of training at a bank-owned academy between each step? Then 100 euros gross more? No thanks.

That is exactly the reason why I quit the bank years ago – strange ideas of personnel development from another century combined with zero flexibility and sales pressure.

Thank you for your contribution. I have been trying for some time in this thread to replace the term "career" with "employment" or "working life." I do not know where the idea comes from that working men and women with small children automatically have a "career" or are "career women" or "career men."