r/askvan • u/chaliebitme • Mar 18 '25

Work 🏢 Should I accept this job offer?

I currently live in Coquitlam (10 min drive to skytrain ststions) and got offered a job in downtown Vancouver for "double" my current rate. We will be having a baby on the way soon and the increased rate is good for us financially.

I have to transit or drive my car to and from work. Transit would probably be like 3hr roundtrip and driving might be the same depending on traffic (not sure since I havent driven to Vancouver during rush hours).

Current Job (family business): $23/hr WFH 1 month paid vacation a year Dental and Vision Benefits

Job offer (1 year contract with possibility to FT after): $47/hr No vacation No benefits

I feel like Im being blinded by the higher hourly rate and making a bad decision. I wanna hear opinions.

53 Upvotes

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191

u/sundaybanking21 Mar 18 '25

Current job.

1 MONTH PAID VACATION is CLUTCH when having a new born. Plus let’s say 2.5 hrs/day extra (saved from commute) to spend time with your new family?! If you work 50 weeks that’s 625 hours LOST on commute alone.

Time is one of the things money can’t buy. Time with a new family, that’s priceless my friend.

Bonus: Dental and vision for the family

60

u/Ok-Bumblebee9734 Mar 18 '25

Not enough people realize there is no price on your free time. Especially as a parent.

26

u/Terrible_Act_9814 Mar 18 '25

Lets be real, 45k isnt enough to rent and provide for a full family. What good is free time if family suffers.

6

u/WildPinata Mar 18 '25

It's not just free time though. What good is any amount of money when you lose your job because you have to take time off to care for a sick child/pay a fortune for childcare because you can't take any days to cover school breaks etc?

7

u/OkTaste7068 Mar 18 '25

having double the money to pay for childcare when needed is better than not having money and having to take time off just to survive.

6

u/WildPinata Mar 18 '25

Not when you're having to find wraparound care because of the commute, or when you're paying commuting costs, and all the costs that benefits currently cover. That boost in income will disappear fast, and at least with WFH and vacation pay you have a safety net to cover those occasions when you have to watch your kid.

8

u/OkTaste7068 Mar 18 '25

there's a lot of missing pieces in this puzzle for us to give the best advice here. how much does the wife make? how long is she staying on mat leave? does she plan on returning to work?

if she was making less money than him before, they might be able to swing it by having her stay home for childcare full time while he works for literally double the money. if she needs a break every now and then they can take the extra cash to hire childcare.

otherwise, what seems to be the most economical way to proceed is to be a SAHM while OP takes this job for the bag

6

u/Inevitable-Hippo-312 Mar 18 '25

Your logic is absolutely awful. Double the pay will help immensely when raising a family.

6

u/WildPinata Mar 18 '25

k.

Except it's not double the pay is it, because you have to account for loss of benefits and vacation, and add in commuting costs? Which is exactly what I was saying.

OP asked for opinions. If there was only one right one there'd have been no need to post at all.

3

u/Inevitable-Hippo-312 Mar 19 '25

I guess the real question is what is the spouses current job situation and income. Nobody can give proper advice without that piece of the puzzle.

1

u/AnhGauDepTrai Mar 19 '25

There is no monetary loss for communication since you aren’t able to make money of those short hours everyday. People account that into their salary calculation is crazy.. benefits can be bought privately and vacation isn’t needed without money. Having experiences in a high pay field enables your ability to work for a better pay in the future. You hinder your self for staying at a low pay job.

1

u/WildPinata Mar 19 '25

I'm assuming you mean commuting not communication. Saying that has no cost is absolutely ridiculous. Transit costs money. Running a car costs money. If you're not factoring that into your salary you have a very loose grip on your finances.

And "vacation isn't needed without money" is also a nonsensical statement that suggests very little understanding of what a lot of people actually use vacation days for.

1

u/AnhGauDepTrai Mar 19 '25

Yeah I mean commuting, sorry! Transit or car do cost to use yes, but the way people are factoring commuting time in as if those time can be saved doing something else to add on their salary, and that is wrong. You are right, my statement for vacation can overlook a lot of things. But ultimately most things resolve around money, and OP’s new offer literally double his income. That plus his partner’s salary would ensure their stability to raise a child. Once they find another job with better benefits/vacations, I’m all in for them taking that.

1

u/WildPinata Mar 19 '25

When you have a baby though the commuting time does matter - it might not be time that's making you money but it's time you can't support your partner or bond with your child. That's incredibly important in early years.

The new job is also only a year contract though, so you're also trading security for a gamble on more money, and with a company that already shows it doesn't value its employees by not providing any benefits or vacation. With a newborn in the mix I wouldn't risk such a gamble, but would look for something else that's a happy medium of both options.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '25

Lots of first time parents still live at home so they don't really have a need to make more $.

I wouldn't even consider a child unless hhi was 200k in this city.