That's a good point DarkDreamer.

When I went back to work 3 days a week after DD#1 I got given every small, annoying, boring projects that had been sitting around on the backburner for ages because noone else wanted to do it. And never more than one project at a time because I was 'only 3 days', despite people at 5 days having 3 or 4 concurrent projects.

I had been there 18 months when I took mat leave. The boss of our division wouldn't promote me (this was the public service so promotion was a formality) even after I was there for 5 years because I was 'only there for 18 months'. So all these youngsters who started way after me got promoted instead. And of course I wouldn't go up to 4 days a week or more (I did, briefly) as the loss in CL/tax/hecs/childcare/travel was so high I was getting $200 a week less on 4 days, so I never really stood a chance.

I ended up quitting and moving to the bush, where we do our own thing for less money and more happiness.

/rant