Out-of-school time programs are absolutely necessary to meet the needs of modern families. Traditional work hours and typical school hours are not in alignment. Long gone are the days where most families had a full-time stay at home parent or relative to care for their children before the school day started, after the school day ended and all summer long. Unsurprisingly, 85% of parents overall agree that afterschool programs provide working parents peace of mind.
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The pandemic led to an exodus of workers overall. However, it was a significant blow to working moms who were forced to leave the workforce when schools, childcare and afterschool programs shutdown. According to the Current Population Survey, of the 10 million adults not working more than one-third of that are mothers living with school-age children in the United States. Between March and April of 2020, some 3.5 million mothers living with school-age children left active work, according to the US census.
School-aged children that need to be cared for when school is out in order to support working parents. No wonder prior to the pandemic, the vast majority of Virginia parents (79%) with a child enrolled in an afterschool program report that out-of-school time programs helps them keep their job or work more hours.
