Increasing costs of food for school lunches and new school uniforms are hitting parents hard in the pocket when it comes to back to school spending.
A new survey from the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) shows the total back-to-school spend stands at €1,086 per child for primary school parents and €1,401 per child for secondary school.
The findings show €113 of an increase for secondary school parents compared to 2023, but a €66 drop in spend for primary school parents.
Almost half of parents of school children who are struggling to manage costs say they've cancelled or reduced non-essential service or activities to cover rising costs.
Some one-in-four say they are trying to earn additional income.
Debt
The survey shows that more than one-in-four parents are in debt to cover the costs and almost one-third of parents who are in debt owe over €500.
More than half (53%) of parents feel pressured to buy branded clothing, footwear, and other items for their children - up 11% from 2021.
Increasing costs of food for children for school lunches (56%) is the biggest effect of the rising cost - followed by increasing costs of new school uniforms (54%) and school trips or activities (52%).
Almost 70% of parents believe that schools don’t do enough to help keep the costs of going back to school down.
Family holidays (31%) are still the biggest sacrifice to cover back to school costs and 13% say they have to sacrifice spending on food to cover back to school costs.
'Knock-on effect'
ILCU CEO David Malone said the Free School Books scheme has helped somewhat.
"This year's back to school survey findings are very insightful as they show that Government initiatives such as the Free School Books scheme do seem to have eased the financial burden for some families," he said.
"There is a still an onerous cost burden on parents with increasing levels of associated debt linked to schooling and the cost of living.
"The issue of debt is significant, and it should be noted that 32% of parents in debt have debts of over €500 to cover these costs."
Students carrying bags and books in September 2018. Image: PA Images/AlamyMr Malone said other areas are being cut to service back to school costs.
"These costs and increasing levels of debt have a knock-on effect as our 2024 research shows that almost half of parents of school children who’ve been affected by the cost of living since the start of 2024 say they’ve cancelled or reduced non-essential service or activities to cover rising costs," he said.
"Our research found that 86% of parents with school children say their income or household costs have been affected by rising costs of living, with 91% of those affected experiencing additional grocery costs and 89% seeing additional costs to utility bills," he added.
The 2024 ILCU survey also shows a drop of 10% in the numbers under financial pressure - down from 73% last year.
