America After 3PM: Demand Grows, Opportunity Shrinks

Join the Afterschool Alliance Tuesday, December 8, at 1 PM EST for a virtual media and field briefing on new nationwide data on demand for afterschool programs and parent views on afterschool opportunities. The report “America After 3PM: Demand Grows, Opportunity Shrinks,” includes responses from more than 30,000 U.S. families and builds on household surveys conducted in 2004, 2009 and 2014. It offers a pre-pandemic snapshot of how children and youth spend their afternoons and includes a separate survey of parents conducted this fall.

For years, afterschool programs have kept kids safe, inspired them to learn, and offered parents peace of mind that their children are constructively engaged in the hours between the end of the school day and when parents return from work.

Commissioned by the Afterschool Alliance and conducted by Edge Research, the new study reveals disturbing trends in access to afterschool opportunities, high unmet demand for afterschool overall, and paints a stark picture of grave inequities in terms of which families can access and afford afterschool programs.