The Past and Potential Future of the Summer Care Scramble:

So basically, those elite professional parents we talked about before, they’re hitting the older parent problem twice over. Because their parents may have had them when they were older, and they’re now likely having their kids when they’re older, as well. And that means that the grandparents on whom elite professional parents might have otherwise relied during the summers may be disproportionately unable to provide full-time care.

Ultimately, then, while most families would likely benefit from a more accessible and affordable set of summer care options, the feeling that “summer is so different now” is far from a universal one. Most parents don’t take part in the “summer scramble” to find and sign up for half a dozen different specialty and overnight camps before the slots disappear. And only 20 percent of US parents pay more than $3,000 for all of their kids’ summer care.