Money, Money, Money
As the new school year is fast approaching, parents will be faced with a shocking £1.5 million bill to kit out their children, ready for the new term.
Nationwide Building Society has revealed that parents will spend, on average per child, £180 over the coming weeks to ensure that their children are prepared for the start of term.
The figures show that £110 will be spent on new uniforms and sports kits, £50 on new school shoes, including trainers and plimsolls and £20 on school bags and other essential items which include stationary, pencil cases, water bottles and lunch boxes.
As a result, more than a fifth of parents will rely on their credit card, with one in ten parents admitting they will turn to the grandparents for financial help. A further 15% of parents say they will need to dip into their savings to provide their children will all the new term essentials. Around 76% say that they will use cash sitting in their current account to fund items needed.
58% of parents are turning to UK’s supermarkets to buy their child’s school uniform and other school clothes in hope that money will be saved. As well as shopping at department stores when buying uniforms, which is proving popular amongst 42% of parents.
Parents face more problems as some schools have requested that parents purchase the uniforms at the schools choice of store, with 4% of parents witnessing this.
With so many items needed, parents are naturally concerned about how they are going to finance these purchases as 38% are worried about how they will pay for everything.
Graham Pilkington, Nationwide’s director for banking, comments: “Even when the kids are at school, parents have to spend money. Following on from the summer holidays, where our recent research showed that parents are likely to have spent £1,000 per child, this latest expense makes the July to September period one of the most expensive of the year for parents.
“With more and more items required to send kids back to school in September, the financial burden is becoming even greater. Parents understand this with nearly two in five admitting that they worry about how they are going to pay for everything.
“With 0 per cent purchase deals and cash back offers available, a number of parents are turning to credit cards to fund these purchases as they can offer an efficient means to buy what’s needed. What’s more, where the card offers cash back, this can also help to offset some of the expenditure.”