It's back to
school time. And for many parents, this means reaching deep into their pockets.
It costs how much to go
to school?
This year,
shoppers in the U.S. will spend more than $26.5 billion on school items for
nearly 50 million children going to public schools. The cost of kitting out a
pupil has risen rapidly -- by nearly 50% in just five years, according to
National Retail Federation. In the UK, the annual bill for items used by its
8.3 million children at school will be more than $4 billion, Santander research
shows.
The shopping spree
makes the start of a new school year one of the busiest shopping periods for
retailers, second only to the winter holiday season.
.
The most expensive
items on the shopping list are electronic gadgets, rapidly becoming essential
items for school kids.
Almost 60% of
shoppers in the U.S. plan to buy electronic items for their children, while in
the UK, 38% of parents purchase new technology for their kids, according to
Bright House retailer.
The NRF figures
show American parents spend on average $211 per child, while uSwitch figures
show their British counterparts fork out average $215 on each child's
electronics.
But school goods
don't have to be high tech to be expensive. Pens, bags, books, lunch boxes and
other essentials add up to whopping $98 per a child in the U.S. and slightly
more modest $81 per youngster in the UK.
School uniforms
and other clothing items add up to $224 per child in the U.S., and $142 in the
UK. On top of that, shoes cost on average $116 in the U.S. and $86 in the UK.
But parents on both sides of the Atlantic said
they are trying to keep their back to school spending in check. In the U.S.,
31% of families plan to spend less overall and 34% said they were buying
generic products rather than big brands to save money, according to the NRF.
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