Summer camp directors see slowdown in registrations
NEW YORK -- As headlines about a struggling economy pour in, parents worried about their wallets are waiting longer to register their children for summer camp and more are asking for financial aid.
Day camp directors said parents are making decisions a month or two later than usual as they determine their summer finances, said Peter Surgenor, the national president of the American Camp Association.
Similarly, YMCA resident and day camps started to see a slowdown in registrations in March "when economic news stories became more certain of recession in mid-March," said YMCA camping specialist Gary Forster.
Historically during past recessions and real estate downturns, as many as 25 percent of parents waited longer than usual to sign up for YMCA camp, Forster said, and the average length of a camper's stay declined. The waiting lists for camps shortened, too, but camp attendance stayed steady.
ACA's Surgenor is confident, however, that summer camp will remain a top priority for parents despite the economic outlook.
"I think that summer camp is one of the last cuts they make in their budgets because it's a key component to their children's summer experience," Surgenor said. "When the economy gets a little tight, camp becomes an attractive alternative and sometimes purchased at the expense of a family vacation."
Parents are struggling with higher food and fuel costs. Retail spending, which makes up two-thirds of economic activity, has mostly stalled this year and consumer confidence has plummeted to its lowest reading in 26 years.
To save and invest more, Peter and Maria Stokstad of Missoula, Mont., are cutting back on summer camps for their three children this year. The first camps they're looking to cut: the ones that require a hefty drive.
The couple is waffling over a piano camp for their oldest daughter, 12-year-old Anastacia. The camp is in Salt Lake City, a 525-mile drive for Maria who is "shocked" every time she fills up her van's tank.
"We haven't figured out everything for sure. There's no way can do the gas and a hotel. So unless I can stay with a friend, we can't do it," she said.
Some camp directors are hoping parents will use their economic stimulus checks -- set to hit mailboxes and bank accounts starting this week -- toward camp tuition. The checks are part of an $168 billion economic stimulus plan passed by Congress. Under the plan, families who have filed their tax returns for the year can get up to $1,200, plus $300 per child.
The Flat Rock River YMCA Camp in St. Paul, Ind., recently sent postcards out encouraging parents to use part of their checks for camp. So far, they appear to have worked; registrations are up 4 percent from this time last year.
However, surging foreclosures are taking a toll on YMCA Camp Jones Gulch in La Honda, Calif. Financial aid applications are rising, Associate Executive Director Jennifer Clink said, and some programs are seeing a drop-off in registrations.
K. Robert Bengtson, the director of Camp Mowglis in Hebron, N.H., also is seeing more financial aid requests, some of them coming from parents who didn't need aid in the past.
Founded in 1903, the seven-week outdoors camp for boys ages 7 to 14 costs $5,450. On average, a quarter of the 85 campers receive some sort of financial assistance.
"If you're an average family, paying another $3,000 a year on gasoline and heating oil, then you don't have as much discretionary income," Bengtson said. "I would say that the majority of our families are middle income, and so I think they have been affected."