Many parents in Ireland have been feeling the pinch over the last few weeks preparing their little ones to head back to school, with some admitting they can’t pay their bills and meet school costs.
The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul’s regional offices answered around 30 calls an hour from parents in the month of August, who were ringing for advice as they were unable to meet the full cost of sending their children back to school.
Parents and caregivers say they are doing their best to get their children prepared for the new academic year but with so much pressure on household budgets with the rising cost of living, meeting the full cost is “impossible.”
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According to the Irish charity, almost half of the requests came from one-parent families, representing the intense hardships being experienced by these families right now.
Rose McGowan, SVP National President said that while the increase this year in the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance and free school transport was helping families, these measures are only temporary and are still a long way off meeting the needs of families struggling with school costs.
“Parents tell us that by the time the bills are paid they have little, or nothing left to buy food and are struggling to pay for schoolbooks and uniforms as well as requested parent contributions,” she said.
“Many parents tell us that they feel they are failing their children by not being able to cover the increasing costs at back-to-school time. This has a huge impact on parents’ mental health and well-being.”
Among the many stories SVP members have heard include the pressure being put on parents to hand over €150 euros on the first day of school. Many are being told “everyone has to pay,” when some are struggling to pay for books, uniforms, tracksuits, and stationery.
In early August, SVP took almost 450 calls in one day, with many parents talking about the guilt and pressure of feeling like they weren’t doing best for their children.
One person told the charity: “The back-to-school allowance didn't even cover the cost of his books this year. I still have copies, shoes, school bags and uniforms left to buy and that’s without doing the shopping and covering all of our bills.”
Another said: “I haven’t been given enough hours at work this month and so I’m not going to be able to pay the bills and cover all the back-to-school expenses, I’m not entitled to the back-to-school allowance.”
Among the many calls was another parent who said: “We are struggling financially and still waiting to hear if we are entitled to the back-to-school allowance.
“The back-to-school allowance only covered the cost of my child’s tracksuit, he’s grown and needs new shoes and runners as well as a full school uniform.”
A fourth said: “All of my partners wages go on rent and are now using our family’s savings to keep on top of energy and food bills. I feel like such a failure but trying to cover all the back-to-school costs has really made things difficult.”
One family “can cover the bills and of course wanting to feed the kids, but it leaves me with nothing to cover their school costs. I’m really anxious, I’m losing sleep.”
A final example was a parent who explained: “I’ve bought an ipad and books which cost me €1,400 this year, I still have their uniform to buy. I’m doing my best to keep it all together.”
Niamh Dalziel, SVP Research and Policy Officer said, “We know from our work in communities that education funding falls short of what is needed to make sure full participation of all children and reduce costs to families at back-to-school time.
“We have set out in our Pre-Budget submission a number of ways that the government should address school costs and provide genuinely free primary and secondary education to all students.
“We want to see an end to the practice of voluntary contribution We are asking for the capitation grant to be restored to 2010 levels at a cost of €28 million. This should be a first step in ending the practice of voluntary contribution through an adequate funding system.
To help inform this longer-term goal, we have commissioned research with parents and secondary schools to ask them about the impact of voluntary contributions on their finances so that we can fully understand the issue.
“The research will support us to have a solid evidence based about the universal question of paying and requiring voluntary contributions for education in Ireland.”
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