Part of the problem is that no one has paid attention or cares why they join
and what the characteristics of being a kid member are.

Probably no amount of effort will improve significantly the odds of keeping
them. They join and stay (for as long as they do) for vastly different
reasons than do adult members.

It is fair to say that their (short-term) acquisition benefits third parties
vastly more than it does the USCF.

---

A fair analysis, and a normative one of market forces which recognise
/spender's/ motivations as paramount in their expenditure. There is zippo
loyalty to anything else that is easily measured.

The real question about the majority of the USCF market, scholastics, is why
90% of them leave, and so soon. Again, in market terms, they are
insufficiently engaged in their /own/ terms. In UK there is no need to join
or commit to any organizational values or corporate aspirations to play
chess, and with 1/5th US population there is still approx the same amount of
rated games performed.

Only people interested in why that is, and why that is not untypical in the
rest of the world, should attempt further inquiry.

Phil Innes