Survey reveals the importance of summer for Black and Latinx families

What we learned about the summertime for Black and Latinx families

On the heels of the release of the America After 3PM special report, “Time for a Game-Changing Summer, With Opportunity and Growth for All of America’s Youth,” two new briefs are now available that dig into the priorities for Black and Latinx families during the summer, as well as examine what the 2019 and 2020 summers looked like for their children. Based on a survey of nearly 30,000 households, including responses from more than 4,000 Latinx and 3,500 Black families, “Summertime in America for Black Families and Communities” and “Summertime in America for Latinx Families and Communities” find a strong sense of anticipation among families of the breadth of possibilities during the summer months. Yet despite an increase in participation in summer programs prior to the pandemic, and Black and Latinx parents reporting high-levels of program satisfaction, the survey found that there were 2.3 million Black children and 4.4 million Latinx children who would have been enrolled in a summer program if one were available to them.

Insights from the briefs include:

• Prior to the pandemic, summer program participation was on the rise. The percentage of Black and Latinx families reporting that they have a child involved in a summer program consistently increased through the editions of America After 3PM. For Black families, participation grew from 35% in 2008, to 42% in 2013, and reached half of families in 2019, while Latinx families saw a large increase from 2008 to 2013 (29% to 39%), but a slowdown in 2019, with 44% of Latinx families reporting that their child was involved in a summer learning program in 2019.
• Opportunities for physical activity, building life skills, and a variety of activities are extremely important when selecting summer activities for Black and Latinx families. In addition to a safe environment and knowledgeable and caring staff, offerings that rose to the top of the list for Black and Latinx families when choosing a summer program for their child were opportunities to build life skills, physical activity, and a variety of activities. Black parents were statistically more likely than White parents to say that each of the 16 items measured by the survey were extremely important in their selection of a summer activity; Latinx parents were statistically more likely than White parents to say that half of the items asked about were of extreme importance.
• Both Black and Latinx parents give high marks to their child’s summer programs. In 2019, more than 9 in 10 Black (95%) and Latinx (96%) parents were satisfied with the structured summer experience their child attended.
• Cost, transportation, and lack of information on programs are the greatest barriers to participation for families. Cost was primary reason why Black parents (36%) and Latinx parents (39%) who did not have a child in a structured summer experience in 2019 report that they did not enroll their child in a program. Additionally, roughly 1 in 5 Black and Latinx parents cited issues with transportation and not knowing what programs were available as barriers.
• Overwhelming majorities of Black and Latinx parents favor public funding for summer learning opportunities for young people in underserved communities. When asked about support for public funding for summer learning opportunities, approximately 9 in 10 Latinx (90%) and Black parents (89%) say that they are in favor. Looking across demographics, Latinx parents are among the groups where support is particularly strong.
• Families continued to need summer programming during the pandemic. Although participation in summer programs was down in 2020, 38% of Black families and 28% of Latinx families report that that their child participated in a structured summer experience, which included voluntary summer programs, summer school classes, specialty camps or programs, or summer jobs or internships in 2020.

Additional information on specific structured summer experiences Black and Latinx children took part in and greater details on comparisons between demographic groups can be found in the briefs. Also available are interactive data dashboards displaying results for Black and Latinx households that allows you to explore demographic data.