July isn’t over yet, but back-to-school anxiety is already creeping in, for both students and their parents. In particular, parents are concerned this year about the cost of school supplies.
Survey results released this week by WalletHub showed that 70% of parents believe that schools ask them to buy too much during back-to-school season. According to Deloitte’s 2024 Back-to-School Survey, parents expect to spend $586 on school supplies per child this year, down $11 compared to last year.
“With a focus on repadding their savings and investing in extracurricular activities, respondents are taking a cautious approach to back-to-school spending,” said Deloitte.
WalletHub’s survey found that 86% of parents believe the cost of education is out of control and 79% think schools ask parents to buy too much for back-to-school. It also found that 52% actually expect to spend more on back-to-school supplies next year.
Close to one in three parents don’t trust Google to show them bac-to-school deals. Around a third of parents plan to use coupons to save money on back-to-school supplies, while nearly 30% plan to open a new credit card and 19% plan to shop on a sales tax holiday. USA Today recently published a guide to such holidays.
Even though parents who participated in the WalletHub survey believe that education costs are too high, 77% said they would go into debt for their children’s’ education. A vast majority (95%) want financial literacy to be part of their children’s core curriculum.
Parents may be stressed, but it looks like financial relief might be on the horizon.
Inflation has been up in recent years, both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, putting stress on consumers. Interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve Bank intended to bring inflation down have also made life more expensive for Americans. However, the most recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that inflation declined slightly in June, and Investing.com said: “Morgan Stanley analysts anticipate that the Federal Reserve’s upcoming July meeting will pave the way for a rate cut in September.”