• My husband and I decided to work part time after the birth of our first child.
• Strangers have asked my husband why he's taking care of our kids.
• We've both taken pay cuts — but we've also saved money on childcare.

When we had our first child, my husband and I needed to figure out how to balance childcare and work. We both wanted to spend time with our son but didn't want to stop working or pay for expensive childcare. The UK has some of the highest childcare costs in the world, and the lack of government support for working parents leaves many facing difficult decisions.

We've since had another child, and we took shared parental leave after she was born, something very few men in both of our organizations had done before. After that maternity leave, I decided to quit my job and freelance, giving me more flexibility with a workaround for both children.

Our son has now started school, and my husband and I both work four-day weeks, meaning we each have a day with our daughter while we continue our careers. Over the last five years we've saved around $40,000 on childcare, and despite both taking pay cuts we aren't that much worse off.

To read more of Annabel Lee's article, please click here.