What Are Kids Getting Into These Days? Demographic Differences in Youth Out-of School Time Participation: Executive Summary

With support from the William T. Grant Foundation, Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) is conducting a research study on the factors associated with whether children and youth participate in out-of-school time (OST) programs and activities. Building on our previous work, we are using national data to examine the many factors and contexts in children's lives that predict participation.

This research brief distills findings from the first phase of the study, which examines demographic differences in youth's OST participation rates. It first provides information on current demographic differences in OST participation rates and then looks at whether there is any evidence that such differences have changed in recent years. The brief concludes with implications for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers. (authors)