"America after 3PM" began in 2004, precisely because of the absence of reliable data about such topics. That year, the Afterschool Alliance set out to fill the information gap, conducting what was at that point the most in-depth study on how children spend their time after school. The 2014 "America after 3PM" edition spans a…

Objective: This paper examines different child care arrangements utilized by working families in countries undergoing major socio-economic transitions, with a focus on modeling parental decisions to leave children home alone. Method: The study interviewed 537 working caregivers attending government health clinics in Botswana, Mexico, and Vietnam.…

Most employed parents, many in dual-earner couples, are at work when their children get out of school, generating parental concerns about children's welfare after school. Parental concerns are hypothesized to be related to respondent and partner work hours, respondent schedule control, and child's unsupervised time and to give rise to job…

Policymakers nationwide must decide how to best invest in education and related opportunities, such as out-of-school-time programs targeting youth and early-childhood education programs. In this paper, we review the costs, benefits, and costs and benefits relative to one another for one alternative type of investment: youth programs that are…

Left-behind children refer to those left behind by parents working away from home and taken care of by only one of the parents or relatives because one or both of the parents go out to work in the city. By using questionnaires, this study involves 8,627 rural pupils chosen from 10 provinces to examine academic psychological characteristics,…

Discusses various school-age child care options: self-care, telephone help lines; neighborhood check-in programs, youth activities; family day care, and after-school child care programs. (JOW)

Illustrates how one mother and her 10-year-old son worked out a latchkey arrangement for after school. (PCB)

Investigated factors associated with amount of time children spend in self-care among 1,194 mothers of latchkey children. Found that children's age and mother's hours per week of paid employment were significantly related to greater use of self-care arrangements. Mother's frequency of attendance at religious services was related to lesser use of…

The booklet is based on information from a 1984 conference on school-age latchkey children (those who take care of themselves during the out-of-school hours). An introduction notes controversies in terminology and focuses the discussion on what self-care means to the experiences of childhood. The first two chapters discuss the impact that having…

"Kids-on-Campus" provides before and after school child care services in partnership with seven school districts in Sacramento and Yolo Counties (CA). It is the ideal solution to the latchkey children problem with the program taking responsibility for all the development and administration of in-school child care programs. (MD)

In response to the number of young children taking care of themselves after school, the state of California has developed "Safety Pals," a program that teaches children how to take care of themselves when they do not have adult supervision. (MD)

Discusses ways in which call-in hotlines provide assistance to latchkey children. Describes ways in which parents can provide a feeling of safety for latchkey children and cure feelings of loneliness and boredom through structured activities.(RJC)

Discusses the differing study findings regarding the impact of self-care on children. Describes the "Balancing Work and Family Life" project, which tested a self-care preparation curriculum designed to teach children and parents the skills necessary for safety and survival in self-care settings. (SO)

Checklist to help parents determine whether self-care is appropriate for their children asks whether the child feels secure alone, completes chores, obeys rules, communicates well, lives in a safe area, has a nearby emergency contact, and can telephone a parent. Recommends that parents and children discuss self-care and alternatives. (SM)

In approximately 60% of married-couple families with children under the age of 18, both parents work outside the home. Among single-parent families in 2004, the mother was employed in 72% of those maintained by women, and the father was employed in 83% of those maintained by men. 55% of all children in low-income families have at least one parent…