The problem of the after school arrangements of school age children affects a large number of families in this country. Little empirical work has been done to examine the choices parents make for their children, the effects of different care arrangements on children's development, or the aspects of after school care which are important for children's development.Yet clearly these are important questions for a society in which increasing numbers of school age children have mothers in the workforce. The proposed study would follow two cohorts of children over a five year period. The first group would first be assessed while in kindergarten, prior to entry into an after school arrangement, to gain baseline data on family background, family functioning, and the child's development (e.g., intelligence, achievement, adaptive functioning, self-esteem, behavioral problems and competencies). These children would be reassessed each year through the fourth grade. The literature suggests that most of these children would be in a supervised after school arrangement (an after school program, day care setting, or with a parent after school). The second cohort of children would be third graders when first assessed. The development of these children would be followed through the eighth grade. This group of children are more likely to enter self-care during the period of the study. By following these groups of children we would be able to examine: 1) what are the characteristics of children and families who choose particular arrangements for their children, 2) what are the developmental sequelae of different care arrangements (self-care, mother-care, program-care, other-care) over time 3) do the stability of care arrangements and the amount of time spent unsupervised affect development? In addition, we will examine the differences in the quality of children's after school arrangements through development of parent-report and provider-report measures and through observation of children in their after school setting. In the second and-fifth year of the study, we will also collect data from fourth graders, through diaries and phone contacts, on their daily activities.
