It’s well past 10 p.m. on a Monday night and Kristi Richard is still awake—and working.
Not because she isn’t tired. This is just normal for many parents juggling work and raising young children, as Business Report details its new cover package.
Like so many other working parents across Baton Rouge, Kristi and her husband, Daniel, spend most of their weekdays sandwiching office work between shuttling their small children to and from daycare.
Then there’s the evening marathon of parenthood: playing with the children outside; grabbing a quick dinner while feeding their two toddlers; plopping the youngsters into the bathtub before wrestling them into pajamas; combing their hair and brushing their teeth; giving 1-year-old Nolan a bottle; reading two books to 3-year-old Ellison and; finally, putting both children to bed.
In short, family dynamics have changed dramatically in recent decades. In nearly half of all two-parent households today, both parents work full-time jobs, a sharp uptick from previous decades. And parenting roles have shifted in an egalitarian direction, as men and women share more home and childcare duties, which in the past were the mother’s primary responsibility.
What hasn’t changed quite as much, however, are demands outside the home, as studies show most workplaces and schools still operate as if one parent stays home.
Young, career-driven couples are catching on to these difficulties and more people are putting off starting families until later in life if they even decide to do so at all.
Kristi and Daniel Richard were once those people, but everything changed after their children were born.
Read the full cover story for more on how the Richard family and others are striving to “have it all.” Send your comments to editor@businessreport.com.
