Most parents cutting back on extracurricular activities ahead of new school year

More than a third of Irish parents will not be able to buy their children new shoes when they go back to school in the autumn with twice that number forced to cut back on extracurricular activities as the cost of living crisis continues, a survey published on Wednesday says.

The number of Irish parents describing back to school costs as a financial burden has also climbed, according to an annual piece of research from the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU).

The survey was carried out by i-Reach Insights and is based on responses from 723 parents from across the Republic.

It found that while more parents say they are under pressure, the actual costs have fallen although a significant portion of the decrease is attributed to cutbacks in extra curricular activities rather than any fall in school related costs.

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One area where the financial burden will be lessened – at least for the parents of primary school going children – is schoolbooks which are to be free from the coming term. However the survey also suggests a lack of awareness among many parents of the changes.

According to the ICLU, 72 per cent of parents said covering back to school costs would be a financial burden this year compared to 66 per cent in 2022.

The average spend for parents of primary schoolchildren is €1,152 per child compared with €1,195 in 2022 while the costs of parents of secondary schoolchildren is €1,288 compared with €1518 last year.

Extracurricular activities was the top expense for primary schools with parents expecting to pay €191 while on €187, schoolbooks were the top expense for parents of secondary schoolchildren.

All told 62 per cent said they would be forced to deny their children extra curricular activities because they could not afford them, with 37 per cent saying they would be forced to deny their children new shoes before the new term.

The survey also suggests that 70 per cent of parents believe schools don’t do enough to keep the costs of going back to school down while 75 per cent of schools ask for a ‘voluntary’ contribution.

The chief executive of the ICLU David Malone said the research indicated that while there was a “slight reduction in the amount being spent per child” general cost of living increases were impacting on households and the fall in spending was “partly due to parents cutting back on extracurricular activities and we still have parents getting into debt to cover back-to-school costs”.

He said the average level of debt was €306 with one in five parents racking up debts of over €500. The percentage of parents getting into debt this year is likely to be the same as last year on 29 per cent.

Mr Malone said that more generally, cost of living increases were impacting all households with 40 per cent of parents of schoolchildren having cancelled or reduced non-essential services and activities to cover rising costs.

He said it was of more concern that 18 per cent of parents of schoolchildren are trying to earn additional income with “the potential impact this might have on family life”.

He expressed hope that the free school book scheme would reduce the need for parents to get into debt but said it was surprising that “nearly half of parents have not been informed of the scheme by their school, and 39 per cent are intending to purchase schoolbooks outright this year. However, we hope to see the full impact of the scheme in our survey next year”.