The problem of spring break

Over the next few weeks, millions of kids around the country will come home from school, toss their backpacks in a corner, and begin an annual ritual that can be fun, relaxing, stressful, and confusing all at the same time.

I speak, of course, of spring break — a phrase that has historically meant one thing to beach-bound college students, and quite another to families of younger kids, facing down a week (or sometimes two) when schools are closed and work is decidedly not.

Summer has its own challenges, for kids and adults alike. But spring break, like the countless other interruptions that pockmark school calendars, can be even harder to plan for. Fewer camps are open; summer school is months away. Some families go skiing or take a cruise, but amid rising prices, those options are out of reach for more and more parents.

For many families, “you kind of cobble it together on your own,” Lauren Smith Brody, CEO of the Fifth Trimester, a workplace gender equality consultancy, told me — which means a lot of stress for parents and, often, a lot of screen time for kids.

Some school districts and afterschool programs offer free or low-cost spring break camps — a way to “reinforce some of the learning that’s going on in a way that feels like the kids are having fun and having a break,” as Jodi Grant, executive director of the nonprofit Afterschool Alliance, put it. But those programs were underfunded even before President Trump ordered the closure of the Education Department, which administers federal funding for afterschool programs.

For now, spring break is yet another reminder of the mismatch between American work culture and the needs of human life — for relaxation, for connection, for something to shake up what can sometimes be a draining daily routine. At their best, Grant said, spring break programs for kids are “just a chance to do things differently.”

If you don’t have a school-aged child, you might not realize how many days off kids have in addition to summer break. In New York City, where I live, it’s about two dozen, which includes winter break, mid-winter break, spring break, and a number of religious and other holidays in between.

School breaks are intended, at least in part, to give families and staff time to observe said holidays (in many districts, spring break encompasses Easter, Passover, or both). Spring break, in particular, is a popular time for travel, with 48 percent of families with children planning a trip during that period, according to a 2023 TransUnion survey. But that still leaves more than half who stay put (it’s not that easy for one or two adults to get a full week off work at a time that’s neither summer nor the winter holidays).

When kids are off but parents are working, the options are somewhat limited. Some camps operate during spring break, but the cost, which can run to hundreds of dollars a week, puts them out of reach for many families. Then there’s the cobble-it-together approach, with parents (and sometimes other family members like grandparents) splitting up care and work as best they can.

“There’s a lot of juggling,” Brody said, and “nobody ever gets any rest.”

Kids, however, do really need breaks. Take it from a student at John Jay High School in Lewisboro, New York, who wrote in the school paper in 2022 that “There are so many responsibilities on high school students’ plate, whether they must do homework, study, work, play a sport or activity, take SAT or ACT tests, look at or visit colleges, take AP exams, etc. Having a break in the school year could help a student relax and feel okay.”

Experts agree that there’s a reason kids don’t go to class 40 hours a week, 365 days a year. Longer school days have been tried in some districts, and both kids and teachers get exhausted, Grant said. “It’s also really important for a lot of kids to have an environment that’s not graded or judged or prescribed.”

So what are families supposed to do? In Philadelphia, one answer is Spring Break Camp, a free, full-day program operating at 22 schools in the district. Some publicly funded afterschool programs offer spring break and other day-off camps as well, Grant said.

These programs give kids a chance to hang out with new friends and new educators, to have more choice than they typically do during the school day, and to sample activities from yoga to weightlifting to building electric cars, Grant said.

Many afterschool programs also provide snacks or meals for kids. But publicly funded programs often have limited space, and private ones can be expensive. Around the country, there are nearly 25 million kids whose parents want them to be in afterschool programs, but who don’t have access, largely because of cost, Grant said.

Expanding access to free or low-cost afterschool programs would help families deal with the three to four hours every weekday in which parents work but schools are out, as my colleague Rachel Cohen has written. It would also provide a solution for those two dozen days every school year that leave many parents scrambling for care — and many kids bored on their iPads all day long.

However, federal funding for afterschool programs has not kept up with inflation, Grant said. The Trump administration and DOGE have not cut support for these programs, but that support is administered through the Education Department, which Trump has instructed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to dismantle. “We’re feeling the same uncertainty as everyone else,” Grant said.

In the absence of robust federal funding, some states, like California, are stepping up by funding afterschool programs out of their own budgets. Employers, too, can help by “fostering a culture that invites people to be open about their caregiving needs,” Brody said.

There is, of course, a core problem at the heart of the spring break conundrum: as Brody put it, the amount of paid vacation American parents typically get (which hovers around 11-15 days for all but the most senior employees) “is just so out of line with the number of weeks that there aren’t school.”

You can solve this problem with camps, or you could solve it with more paid time off. The latter, of course, feels unattainable in a time of worker precarity and a resurgent grind culture. But as kids know well, everyone deserves a break sometimes.

The Trump administration has reportedly cut funding for a program that provides legal representation for unaccompanied immigrant children, potentially forcing them to represent themselves in immigration court.

Last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., announced “Operation Stork Speed” to improve the safety of baby formula. It’s not bad to devote more attention to formula, experts say — but the Trump administration’s cuts at the FDA could hamper safety efforts.

My little kid and I have been reading Fox and His Friends, originally published in 1982 and now a time capsule of 20th-century child-rearing norms. Fox, a school-aged child/animal, is tasked with babysitting his younger sister for an entire day with no adult input whatsoever. He is terrible at his job and eventually allows her to scale a telephone pole, then bribes her for her silence with ice cream. I am not sure if this is an argument for giving kids more independence, or the opposite.

Last week, I asked for your spring break experiences. Reader Kareen H had less-than-fond memories of spring at the YMCA as a child: “I NEVER wanted to be at the Y.”

However, Kareen did enjoy field trips, adding that “I won ‘best singer’ award, because I was singing to myself in the Y van, coming back from some field trip.”

I have no memory of what I did during spring break as a child, but I am positive I have never won a “best singer” award in any context. As always, thanks for your messages and get in touch any time at [email protected].