“Back-to-school time is as stressful as Christmas” – St Vincent de Paul
By Aideen O'Flaherty
MORE than 1,000 families living across local communities are receiving support from St Vincent de Paul for back-to-school costs, with a number struggling to pay household bills as a result of costs for the new school year.
St Vincent de Paul expect to spend in the region of €150,000 supporting families in Ballyfermot, Clondalkin, Tallaght and Lucan with their back-to-school costs this year.
The local conference of SVP told The Echo that the anticipated demand for back-to-school assistance was so high that the charity had to “drastically” cut back on the support they could offer during the summer.
Marie Cronin, the SVP area president for Clondalkin and Ballyfermot, also added that the pressure caused by back-to-school costs causes many of the people they support to be unable to pay their bills.
“What we find is that people are putting their bills on hold.
“Parents struggle so much in September that by the end of October and early November they have other outstanding bills that they haven’t paid.
“Back-to-school time is as stressful as Christmas.”
Despite a 25 per cent increase in the back-to-school allowance this year, which saw the payment for a child aged from four to 11-years-old rise to €125, and for children aged 12 to 17 the payment increased to €250, people are still seeing financial strain at the start of the academic year, particularly in relation to costs for school uniforms.
Ms Cronin said: “The number of people who are coming to us is increasing, the increase [in the back-to-school allowance] is not enough to cover the cost of uniforms because some of the schools insist that the children’s jumpers should have crests on them.
“Pressure should be put on the schools to allow plain royal blue or dark grey uniforms that parents can buy in Aldi or Dunnes.
“That would help the parents, and it would help us to use the money spent on uniforms in other ways.”
School books are also items that some families are struggling to afford, as Ms Cronin told The Echo that “the cost of school books is rising and they’re changed every year, which is ridiculous.”
A nationwide survey of 1,834 parents carried out by children’s charity Barnardos this summer found that 45 per cent of parents delayed paying household bills or had to cut back on daily expenses to afford their child’s back-to-school costs, with 7 per cent forced to borrow money to cover costs.
However, the survey did find that plain uniforms are becoming more common at primary level with 28 per cent of primary schools accepting them, but at second level just 5 per cent allow plain uniforms.
The average school costs for a child in senior infants is €355, in fourth class this rises to €395, while parents can expect to pay back-to-school costs of €800 for a child going into first year in secondary school, according to the survey.
