Teaching is often seen as a family-friendly career.
The school holidays line up with your children's holidays. There's a familiar routine. And you're working in an environment that understands children and their needs.
On paper, it sounds like a career that should fit relatively well around family life.
But the reality can be very different.
In 2026, research published by teachers' union NASUWT found that 70% of teachers surveyed had seriously considered leaving the profession because of the impact their work commitments were having on their children.
And 95% of teachers who were parents reported finding it difficult to balance their responsibilities at work with being a parent.
Those are striking figures.
Because they raise a question that goes beyond education.
What happens when a career that once worked for you no longer fits your life in quite the same way?
And what role should employers play in helping people navigate that change?
Is teaching really a family-friendly career?
There's a long-standing assumption that teaching and parenthood naturally fit together.
And in some respects, they can.
School holidays may offer advantages compared with professions where annual leave is less predictable.
But teaching doesn't begin and end with the school bell.
There's planning.
Marking.
Meetings.
Administrative work.
Supporting pupils with increasingly complex needs.
And the emotional demands of being responsible for a classroom full of children.
Department for Education research found that teachers in England reported working an average of 48.1 hours a week in 2024.
So while the school calendar might look compatible with family life, the reality of the working week can be considerably more demanding.
And when you become a parent yourself, those demands don't disappear.
They're joined by another set of responsibilities.
When you're giving so much of yourself at work and at home
There's something particularly interesting about the experience of being both a teacher and a parent.
Both roles require emotional presence.
Patience.
Attention.
The ability to respond to other people's needs, often when you're already tired.
You might spend the entire school day supporting children, managing behaviour, responding to questions and making decisions.
Then you go home.
And your own children need you too.
They want your attention.
They need help with homework, dinner, bath time or bedtime.
They might be upset, excited, overwhelmed or simply desperate to tell you about their day.
And somewhere in the middle of all of that, there's still tomorrow's lesson to prepare.
It's not difficult to understand how someone could begin to feel stretched.
Not because they're failing at either role.
But because both roles are demanding, and there may be very little space left for themselves.
Why returning to teaching after maternity leave can feel particularly difficult
When we talk about maternity leave, much of the focus is on the practical return.
What date will you be back?
Will you return full-time or part-time?
What class will you teach?
What arrangements need to be made?
All important questions.
But returning to teaching after having a baby can involve more than getting used to a timetable again.
For some women, becoming a mother changes how they see themselves, their priorities and their relationship with work.
There's a term for the wider psychological and identity transition into motherhood: matrescence.
And while not every woman experiences this in the same way, some find themselves questioning things that previously felt settled.
Their confidence.
Their ambitions.
Their capacity.
What they want from their career.
At the same time, they're returning to a profession with significant responsibilities and expectations.
The classroom still needs managing.
Lessons still need preparing.
Pupils still need supporting.
And there may be very little flexibility in when or where that work happens.
The practical return might happen on the first day of term. But the wider adjustment doesn't necessarily end there.
When the pressure begins to accumulate
Often, it isn't one particular thing that makes returning to work difficult.
It's the accumulation.
A night of broken sleep.
An early start.
A full day of teaching.
A meeting that runs late.
A nursery pickup.
Dinner, bedtime and everything else that needs doing.
Then opening your laptop again once the children are asleep.
One difficult day might be manageable.
But when that becomes the normal pattern, it can begin to feel unsustainable.
And for some teachers, that creates a difficult internal conversation.
I love teaching, but I don't know how much longer I can do this.
I worked so hard to get here. Why am I questioning it now?
Would another career make family life easier?
These aren't necessarily questions about someone's commitment to teaching.
They may be questions about whether the structure of the job is compatible with the life they're trying to build.
And that's an important distinction.
Why this is a retention issue, not simply a wellbeing issue
When experienced teachers begin considering leaving, it's tempting to frame the problem entirely around stress or resilience.
Perhaps they need better wellbeing support.
Perhaps they need help managing their time.
Perhaps they need to find a better balance.
Those things may help.
But they don't necessarily address the underlying working conditions.
A teacher cannot simply become more organised and create additional hours in the day.
Coaching cannot resolve excessive workload, inadequate staffing or inflexible working arrangements.
And individual resilience shouldn't be used as a substitute for organisational responsibility.
The Department for Education's research into teachers' working lives has repeatedly identified workload, stress and wellbeing as important factors in decisions about leaving the profession.
The NASUWT findings add another dimension.
For teachers who are parents, the impact of work on family life can become a significant consideration in whether they stay.
That makes this an important issue for school leaders and workforce planning.
Not simply something individual teachers need to manage better.
What schools can do to support teachers returning from maternity leave
There's no single intervention that will resolve every challenge.
But there are practical ways schools can improve the experience of returning.
1. Start conversations before the return date
Rather than focusing only on timetables and working hours, create space to discuss expectations.
What's changed during the employee's absence?
What responsibilities will they be returning to?
Are there any concerns they want to raise?
What would help them feel prepared?
The aim isn't to assume that becoming a parent has changed someone's capability or ambitions.
It's to understand their circumstances.
2. Take flexible working conversations seriously
Flexible working in education can be complicated.
Timetables, staffing requirements and continuity for pupils all need consideration.
But that doesn't mean the conversation should end before it's begun.
Job shares, part-time arrangements, adjustments to responsibilities and other options may be worth exploring where operationally possible.
Importantly, reducing hours should not automatically mean losing access to meaningful responsibilities or career progression.
3. Recognise that the transition continues after day one
Returning from maternity leave isn't a single event.
Someone might feel confident during their first week and find things more difficult a month later.
Regular conversations during the first term can help identify concerns before they become bigger problems.
How is the workload working?
Are expectations clear?
Is the employee getting the support they need?
Have any unexpected difficulties emerged?
These conversations should be part of supportive management, not an assumption that returning mothers are struggling.
4. Keep career development conversations open
One of the risks around maternity leave is that assumptions can begin replacing conversations.
Perhaps she won't want additional responsibility.
Perhaps leadership isn't a priority anymore.
Perhaps she'd prefer a less demanding role.
But managers shouldn't make those decisions on someone's behalf.
Some women will want to change direction after having children.
Others will remain just as ambitious as before.
The important thing is giving people the opportunity to express what they want.
5. Look beyond whether someone returns
Schools may know how many employees return from maternity leave.
But do they know what happens afterwards?
Are returning teachers still in their roles twelve months later?
Do they feel supported?
Are they accessing development opportunities?
Are particular working arrangements proving difficult to sustain?
Understanding these experiences can help schools identify avoidable barriers to retention.
Why manager capability matters
In October 2026, UK government research into pregnancy and maternity workplace experiences highlighted the significant role line managers play in shaping employees' experiences.
The research identified manager capability, communication and consistent application of policies as important factors.
That finding is relevant to education.
A headteacher, department head or school leader may be highly experienced in teaching and school management.
But that doesn't automatically mean they've received practical training in supporting employees through maternity leave and the return to work.
They may be unsure how to discuss changing priorities.
How to approach flexible working conversations.
How to support confidence without making assumptions about capability.
Or how to keep career development conversations open.
These are management skills.
And they deserve attention alongside the wider structural issues facing schools.
This isn't just about teaching
The challenges facing teachers are significant in their own right.
But they also reflect a wider issue.
Across professions, becoming a parent can change the circumstances in which someone works.
Sometimes their priorities change.
Sometimes the demands of work become harder to accommodate.
Sometimes they discover that the role they previously enjoyed no longer fits their life in the same way.
And sometimes they want exactly the same career, but need their employer to provide a more workable environment.
These are different situations.
They shouldn't all be treated as a lack of confidence, ambition or resilience.
The question isn't simply how we help people get back to work.
It's how we create the conditions for them to return, contribute and build sustainable careers.
Supporting teachers through the return-to-work transition
The NASUWT findings are a reminder that the relationship between work and family life can have a significant influence on career decisions.
And for schools already concerned about retaining experienced teachers, that's worth taking seriously.
Better maternity return-to-work support won't solve every challenge facing education.
It won't eliminate workload pressures or remove the need for wider changes to working conditions.
But it can help schools create more consistent, thoughtful experiences for employees navigating a significant transition.
Because returning to work shouldn't mean having to prove that becoming a parent hasn't changed your commitment or capability.
It should mean being able to have an honest conversation about what you need to do your job well.
And how your organisation can support you to keep doing it.
How The Parent Shift supports organisations
At The Parent Shift, I work with organisations to improve how women are supported through maternity leave and the transition back to work.
My focus is particularly on manager capability: helping managers understand the psychological and practical aspects of returning, have more effective conversations and avoid assumptions about ambition or commitment.
For schools and education organisations, this means considering how thoughtful return-to-work support can sit alongside existing policies, staffing requirements and workload considerations.
If you're a school leader or HR professional looking to strengthen your approach, I'd welcome a conversation.
Explore support for organisations or book an introductory call.
Sources and further reading
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Department for Education — Working Lives of Teachers and Leaders
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UK Government — Pregnancy and maternity: workplace experiences of parents