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• The parents of more than 28 million school-age children work outside the home. (U.S. Department of Labor)

• In communities today, 14.3 million school-age children take care of themselves after the school day ends. (America After 3 PM, May 2004)

• 96 percent of working parents pay the full costs of child care. Low-income families who pay for child care spend 35 percent of their income on it. (National Catholic Reporter, 2003)

• On school days, the hours between 3p.m. and 6p.m. are the peak hours for juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and sex. (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2002)

How does America feel about after school programs?

• Nine in ten Americans think children need organized activities or a program to go to after school where they have learning opportunities. (Afterschool Alliance Poll, September 2003)

• Nearly 90 percent of Americans support funding for quality afterschool programs in low-income neighborhoods as an important aspect of government welfare reform programs. (David and Lucile Packard Foundation Poll of Public Views on Welfare Reform and Children in the Current Economy, February 2002)

• California voters overwhelmingly (57 percent, with majorities of every demographic group) approved a $550 million ballot measure to allow for universal afterschool at elementary and middle schools in the state. (Afterschool California, November 2002)

• Voters want government to invest in afterschool programs but do not think that federal officials are committed to afterschool. Less than one-third of voters see Members of Congress and the President as committed. (Afterschool Alliance Poll, September 2003)

• By a three-to-one margin (75 to 22 percent), voters disagreed with President Bush's decision to propose cutting funding for afterschool programs in 2003. (Afterschool Alliance Poll, September 2003)