A new survey by personal finance website WalletHub found that 70% of parents felt that schools were asking them to buy too much for their children when purchasing back to school items.
The National Retail Federation says on average, parents will spend around $875 dollars on clothing, shoes, electronics and school supplies, according to the
• Education Cost Crisis: 86% of parents think the cost of education is out of control.
• Increase in Back-to-School Spending: Most parents (52%) say they will spend more on back-to-school shopping this year than last year.
• Financial Literacy Needed: 95% of parents think financial literacy should be part of the core curriculum.
• Popular Saving Tactics: 33% of parents use coupons to save money on back-to-school shopping, making it the most popular saving method, followed by applying for a new credit card (29%) and shopping on a sales tax holiday (19%).
• Cost of education, 77% of parents are willing to go into debt for their child’s education, compared with 72% last year.
• Popular destinations for back-to-school shopping are online (57%), department stores (50%), discount stores (47%), clothing stores (42%) and electronic stores (23%).
• Looking for savings: The most popular method for 33% of parents surveyed to save on back-to-school shopping is through coupons. That’s followed by applying for a new credit card (29%) and shopping on a sales tax holiday, which are held in 17 states in July and August (19%).
Finance company Credit Karma conducted their own survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults, and 50% of parents said they were willing to sacrifice necessities, such as groceries and bills, to ensure their kids have what they need for the school year, and that number goes up to 60% and 56% for Gen Z and millennial parents.
31% of parents said they are unable to afford back-to-school shopping for their kids this year. 34% of parents said they plan to take on debt to afford it.
Discount stores like Dollar Tree or Dollar General are where most parents (61%) said they plan to shop and 33% of parents said they will rely on hand-me-downs or borrowed items.
Where do parents plan to spend most of their money?
44% said clothing and accessories. 17% said groceries and food. 16% said school supplies, followed by electronic devices (8%) and after-school programs (8%).
28% of parents survey said they would take on a part-time job to cover the back-to-school expenses.
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