It's 3 p.m. Do you know where your children are? Millions of working parents share a common worry as they watch the clock and hope that their after-school arrangements are in place. For their employers, these distractions can take a huge toll on productivity, according to a new study by Catalyst and the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. Despite progress, many communities still face a serious shortage of affordable, high-quality after-school programs, reports Marilyn Gardner in The Christian Science Monitor. More than 14 million students between kindergarten and 12th grade take care of themselves after school, says Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance in Washington, D.C. That includes 40,000 kindergartners and almost 4 million middle school students in grades 6 to 8. Parental concern is greater when children are older -- from grades 6 through 12 -- because this age group is more likely to be unsupervised. A lack of after-school programs also raises concerns about childhood obesity.