It’s called “red-shirting” or the “gift of time,” but the practice of holding a child back from kindergarten for a year offers few benefits over the long term, and the academic advantage for students of being older generally evens out by the third grade, according to a new report.
The percentage of parents who hold back their 5-year-old has remained fairly consistent since the 1990s — between roughly 4.5% and 7%, according to a report by the Northwest Evaluation Assn.an assessment and research organization. The steady number comes amid plentiful, ongoing social media conversations among parents who favor the option.
Two-thirds of children who were held back had summer birthdays between June and August — near the kindergarten enrollment cutoff dates in most states — and would have been young for their grade.
Students who turn 5 by Sept. 1 of the school year are eligible to enter kindergarten in California. Children who turn 4 by that date are eligible for transitional kindergarten.
The practice is intended to give a child an additional year to develop socially-emotionally and enter the school system more prepared.
But its effectiveness may vary, and there are some disadvantages to consider in the long run, according to the report released Monday night.
Although kindergarteners might enter school with an academic advantage in part stemming from maturity, by third grade they are at grade level with classmates when comparing testing data, the report said.
Students who enter kindergarten delayed may also have a higher risk of dropping out, according to studies referenced in the report. Being on the older end of the grade level means children will turn 18 sooner in high school, legally giving them more options as an adult to leave school. It also takes away one year in the workforce, causing them to forgo the benefits of an additional year of work experience.
The decision to delay kindergarten can financially affect parents, who in many cases must pay for child care or take time off from the workforce to care for the child.
When families decide to delay kindergarten
Boys are more likely than girls to enter kindergarten late. The practice is also more common among more affluent families, according to the report. In 2025, 6.8% of children from higher-income families delayed their start, compared with 3.2% from low-income families, according to the report.
More affluent families are more likely to be able to afford additional years of child care, have flexible schedules or take a step back from work, while families that earn less may not be able to afford it and may need school services such as free meals, said Megan Kuhfeld, director of growth modeling and data analytics at the Northwest Evaluation Assn.
That was the case for Madison Cortez of Fremont, who wished she had considered holding back her daughter, now in fifth grade, who started school during the pandemic. Cortez was working at the time, so holding back her child, whose birthday is in August, would have been difficult even if she had entertained the option more seriously.
At the time, she also hadn’t considered that her daughter wouldn’t be academically ready for kindergarten, but found that between online learning and her position as one of the youngest students in her grade, she quickly fell behind.
“We had to play catch-up a lot ever since then,” Cortez said.
Why kindergarten red-shirting can still be helpful
Still, individual circumstances must be considered when evaluating the benefits of delaying kindergarten, said Kuhfeld, who authored the report. Children who have developmental delays or whose behavioral readiness is lagging can still stand to benefit.
Holding back a child can be a good option to allow children extra time to develop self-control and self-regulation skills vital for the classroom, said Stanford professor Thomas Dee, who has studied red-shirting.
“The advice I give parents is to, at some level, trust what they know about their own child,” Dee said.
But it’s important to consider how much development can happen in the time span between kindergarten registration and the first day of school, Kuhfeld said.
“Many parents are having to make this decision, right now — in winter and spring — when they’re still six months out from the start of kindergarten,” Kuhfeld said, adding that there is time for continued growth and maturity.
How TK is affecting parents’ decision
The California rollout of transitional kindergarten, or TK, which has encouraged families to enter the public school system when their child is 4, complicates decision-making.
Each district must determine whether a child who is kindergarten age — 5 years old — qualifies to enroll in TK, which is geared for 4-year-olds, according to the California Department of Education. If a 5-year-old is enrolled in TK, parents must sign a “Kindergarten Continuance” agreeing that they will continue to kindergarten.
School districts may enroll a child in up to one year of TK, two years of kindergarten or a two-year combination of TK and kindergarten.
“I fully expect the expansion of TK in California to compel parents to confront that decision earlier — it’s free and in their community,” said Dee, acknowledging how expensive child care can be.
This article is part of The Times’ early childhood education initiative, focusing on the learning and development of California children from birth to age 5. For more information about the initiative and its philanthropic funders, go tolatimes.com/earlyed.
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