The Afterschool Hours in America

• More than 14 million school age children (25%) are on their own after school. Among them are more than 40,000 kindergarteners. (America After 3 PM, May 2004)
  
  
• The parents of more than 28 million school-age children work outside the home. (U.S. Department of Labor)
  
  
• Only 6.5 million K-12 children (11%) participate in afterschool programs. An additional 15 million would participate if a quality program were available in their community. (America After 3 PM, May 2004)
  
  
• The hours between 3p.m. and 6p.m. are the peak hours for juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and sex. (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2002)
  
  
• 9 in 10 Americans want all children and teens to have some type of organized activity or safe place to go after school. (Election Eve Poll, November 2004)
  
  
• More than half of voters (55 percent) think that there are not enough afterschool programs available for children in America today. (Afterschool Alliance Poll, September 2003)

Afterschool Programs Benefit Youth, Families & Communities

• Teens who do not participate in afterschool programs are nearly three times more likely to skip classes than teens who do participate. They are also three times more likely to use marijuana or other drugs, and they are more likely to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes and engage in sexual activity. (YMCA of the USA, March 2001)
  
  
• Parents in New York City said that their child’s afterschool program helped them balance work and family life; 60 percent said they missed less work than before because of the program and 59 percent said it supported them in keeping their jobs. (Policy Studies Associates, 2004)
  
  
• Children in LA’s BEST improved their regular school day attendance and also reported higher aspirations regarding finishing school and going to college. Drop-out rates among LA’s BEST students are 20 percent lower than the overall district drop-out rate. (UCLA Center for the Study of Evaluation, June 2000 and December 2005)
  
  
• The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning reviewed data from 73 afterschool studies and concluded that afterschool programs employing evidence-based approaches to improving students' personal and social skills were consistently successful in producing multiple benefits for youth including improvements in children's personal, social and academic skills, as well as their self-esteem. (CASEL, 2007)
  
  
• Boys and girls in the Quantum Opportunities afterschool program were half as likely to drop out of high school and two and one half times more likely to go on to further education after high school than their peers. (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2000)
  
  
• A Brandeis University study estimates that decreased worker productivity due to stress and absenteeism caused by issues related to afterschool care arrangements costs employers $496.00 to $1,984.00 per employee, per year, depending on the employee’s annual salary. (Community, Families and Work Program at Brandeis University, 2004)
  
  
• Students (pre-k through 8th grade) in The After-School Corporation (TASC) supported afterschool programs improved their math scores and regular school day attendance compared to non-participants. High school level afterschool participants passed more Regent exams and earned more high school credits than non-participants. (Policy Studies Associates, July 2004)
  
  
• Citizen Schools participants are much more likely to go on to high-quality high schools compared to matched non-participants (65 percent vs. 26 percent). High exposure participants are also more likely to be promoted on-time to tenth grade (92 percent vs. 81 percent). This is critical, since earning promotion to tenth grade on time is a key predictor of high school graduation. (Policy Studies Associates, December 2006)