Introduction
Recent data suggests that 70% of teachers have considered leaving the profession due to the challenge of balancing work and family life.
At first glance, this feels surprising.
Teaching is often seen as one of the most “family-friendly” careers. Structured hours. Shared holidays. A role that, on paper, should fit more easily around children.
But this statistic tells a different story.
Because what’s happening here isn’t just about teaching.
It’s about what happens when someone returns to work after having children — and the role they’re returning to no longer fits in the same way it once did.
The Assumption: “Some jobs just work for parents”
There’s a long-standing belief that certain careers are naturally compatible with family life.
Teaching sits firmly in that category.
And that belief shapes decisions:
- Women move into these roles expecting sustainability
- Organisations assume the structure is already supportive
- Very little attention is paid to the transition back
But compatibility on paper doesn’t always translate to reality.
The Reality: Two Roles, Same Demands
The challenge isn’t just workload.
It’s that both roles — professional and parental — require the same internal resources:
- Energy
- Emotional presence
- Attention
- Patience
Teaching is not a passive job. It requires constant engagement, regulation, and care.
So does parenting.
When both are happening simultaneously, something has to give.
And for many women, the solution becomes stretching themselves further.
Working later.
Carrying more.
Trying to hold both roles to the same standard as before.
The Invisible Pressure After Returning
What often gets missed in conversations about retention is the experience of returning.
Because the return to work is not a neutral moment.
It’s a transition.
And during that transition:
- Confidence is often lower
- Familiar tasks can feel unfamiliar
- There’s a heightened sensitivity to judgement
- The internal narrative shifts (“Am I still as capable as I was?”)
At the same time, the external environment hasn’t changed.
Expectations remain the same.
Workloads remain the same.
Pace remains the same.
So many women respond in the only way that feels available:
they overcompensate.
Not because they’re underperforming —
but because they no longer feel as anchored in their role.
The Accumulation Effect
This isn’t about one difficult week.
It’s what happens when multiple pressures layer over time:
- Interrupted sleep
- Childcare logistics
- Emotional labour at home
- Full professional workload
Each one manageable on its own.
But together, they create something much heavier.
Over time, this shifts from:
“This is hard”
to:
“This isn’t sustainable”
And that’s the moment organisations often lose people.
This Isn’t Just About Teaching
Teaching simply makes the issue visible.
Because if a profession widely considered “family-friendly” is seeing this level of strain, it raises a bigger question:
How many other roles are quietly experiencing the same thing?
Across industries, we see similar patterns:
- Women stepping back or down
- Confidence dips after returning
- High performers questioning their place
Not because they lack capability.
But because the structure around them hasn’t adapted to the reality of transition.
What’s Missing
Over the past decade, there has been real progress in policy:
- Maternity and paternity leave
- Flexible working options
- Greater awareness of retention challenges
But policy alone doesn’t address what happens next.
What’s often missing is support through the transition itself:
- Space to rebuild confidence
- Language for what’s changing internally
- Practical ways to redefine how work fits now
- Acknowledgement that identity has shifted
Without that, many people are left to navigate one of the biggest transitions of their working life alone.
A Different Way to Think About Retention
If organisations want to improve retention, the focus needs to shift.
From:
“How do we get people back to work?”
To:
“How do we support them to re-enter and sustain their role in a new context?”
Because returning isn’t the end of the process.
It’s the start of a new one.
Closing
The statistic about teachers isn’t just about education.
It’s a signal.
A signal that even in roles designed to feel compatible, the reality of combining work and family life is still fundamentally challenging.
Not because people aren’t capable.
But because they’re navigating a transition that hasn’t been fully recognised — or supported.