Five in six Kentucky parents who want afterschool programs for their children are unable to enroll them, in many cases because programs are too expensive, unavailable, or inaccessible.
This, according to a household survey commissioned by the Afterschool Alliance. America After 3PM finds that 92 percent of Kentucky parents with a child in an afterschool program rate it as excellent or very good, and there is overwhelming support among Kentucky parents for public funding for these programs.
The new survey says overall in Kentucky, the parents of 346,276 children want afterschool programs but just 56,940 children are enrolled. Nearly 9 in 10 Kentucky parents favor public funding for afterschool opportunities. Large majorities of parents in the state say these programs keep kids safe, build their social skills and responsible decision making, and help parents keep their jobs and boost their productivity at work.
Conducted by Edge Research, the fifth edition of America After 3PM is based on a survey of 30,515 U.S. parents of school-age children who live in their households, including in-depth interviews with 601 in Kentucky. The study examines 20 years of data and is the first afterschool household survey conducted post-pandemic. It finds that nationally, the parents of 29.6 million children want afterschool programs but just 7 million children are enrolled, meaning three in four (77 percent) students whose parents want afterschool programs for them are being left behind. Children in low- and middle-income families are more likely to be without the afterschool programs their parents want (84 and 73 percent, respectively) than children in high-income families (59 percent).
“This study is an urgent call to action to Kentucky and federal leaders to increase funding and capacity, so all families will be able to access afterschool programs,” said Stephanie Barker, Interim Director of the Kentucky Out-of-School Alliance. “When 289,335 Kentucky children whose parents want them to be in afterschool programs are not, it’s clear we have more work to do. Next Thursday, on October 23, we will be joining programs across Kentucky to participate in Lights On Afterschool, the national rally for afterschool programs. We won’t stop working to remove the barriers until afterschool programs are available to all students in our state.”
The study was made possible through the Afterschool Alliance’s partnership with the New York Life Foundation.
By Tom Latek, Kentucky Today
