Addressing common misconceptions

We can’t afford not to support afterschool.

Quality afterschool programs help young people make smart decisions, build healthy relationships with adults and peers, and avoid risky behaviors after the school day ends.

Afterschool programs save at least 3 tax dollars for every $1 spent by reducing crime costs, improving student’s performance in school, and increasing young people’s earning potential.

• Parents of 22.6 million children not currently participating in afterschool programs say they would enroll their children if a program were available to them. Unmet demand for programs has increase 60% since 2004.
• Among parents with a child in an afterschool program:
  • 93% agree the programs keep young people safe and out of trouble.
  • 84% agreed afterschool programs reduced the likelihood that youth will use drugs or engage in other risky behaviors.

There is strong public support for afterschool programs

A national poll released in February 2025 finds that vast majorities of the public – across gender, race, age, regional and party lines – consider afterschool programs to be important to their communities. There is also strong support for public funding of afterschool and summer learning programs, with two in three adults saying they want their federal, state and local leaders to provide funding for afterschool and summer programs.

• An overwhelming majority of voters (89%) agree that afterschool programs are an absolute necessity for their community.
• Support for funding for afterschool programs is at an all-time high. In addition to 85% of voters in agreement that newly elected federal, state, and local officials should provide more funding to afterschool programs, majorities of Democrats (92%), Republicans (77%), and Independents (81%) support increased funding.
• Nearly 9 in 10 (89%) of votes agree that afterschool strengthens the economy. Having access to quality, affordable afterschool and summer programs is important to help parents work.

Afterschool works!

Afterschool programs help children learn, grow, and realize their full potential. In addition to many compelling personal stories about the benefits of afterschool, dozens of formal studies clearly demonstrate the value of afterschool initiatives. These studies prove that afterschool programs keep kids safe, help working families and improve academic achievement.

This fact sheet includes research demonstrating that afterschool programs help students build foundational skills, offer a lifeline for families, and provide a strong return on investment. Also featured is a graphic illustrating how participation in afterschool programs has both short- and long-term benefits, leading to young people becoming stronger learners, earners, and leaders.

The realities of today's working world make afterschool programs an absolute necessity.

Unfortunately, adequate care is something not always available in every community. Today, only one-fourth of American families fit the “traditional” image of one parent at home caring for children full time, while the other parent provides financial support. In fact, 75% of mothers with school-age children are employed. In all, there are more than 30 million children in a household where both parents are in the workforce.

Additionally, the impact of a lack of adequate care is much broader in scope, not only affecting the children and parents who are in need of afterschool resources. Research has found that parents miss an average of five days of work per year due to a lack of afterschool care, and that decreased worker productivity related to parent’s concerns about their child’s afterschool care costs businesses up to $300 billion per year.

With parents reporting spending close to an average of 9 hours during the weekdays working, the gap between work and school schedules amounts to as much as 25 hours per week. This presents working parents with the challenge of finding someone to care for their children while they are at work. Nationwide, more than 3 million children in grades K-8 regularly care for themselves, and 20% of all children go home alone after school each day.

Further, child care can be prohibitively expensive for many working families. According to ChildCare Aware of America's Demanding Change: Repairing Our Childcare System, center-based child care for a single child can cost 10% of a married couples' total income—or a shocking 35% of total household income for single-parent families. The average annual cost of care for school-aged children can total more than $10,000.

The realities of today’s working world make afterschool programs an absolute necessity. 91% of parents agree that afterschool programs help give working parents peace of mind about their children when they are at work, and 89% of voters agree that afterschool programs help working parents keep their jobs.