Over a quarter (27%) of Irish parents are getting into debt to cover the costs of back to school. While this figure is down from 36% in 2019, the average debt parents find themselves in has increased by €40 from €357 to €397. Of this 27% in debt, over four fifths (81%) have debts of over €200 with over a quarter of these having debts of over €500.

This is not surprising as back to school costs continue to rise for parents, with the overall spend on school items for primary school students at €1,123, up €174 from last year. In secondary schools’ parents average spend is €1,467, up €68 on last year.

The top expense this year for parents of primary school children is after school care at an average of €200 up from €117 in 2019. For second level parents the biggest expense is books at €196 down from €220 last year.  Voluntary contributions for primary schools have increased by 25% to an average of €110 per child from €88 in 2019, with secondary school contributions remaining at an average of €140.

Over two thirds (69%) of Irish parents pay for their children’s back to school supplies from their general monthly income with 20% using their credit card, up from 13% in 2019. The use of savings has grown from 27% to 34%, 6% take a credit union loan, down from 9%, with those turning to moneylenders remaining at 3%.

66% of parents say that covering the cost of back to school is a financial burden, although encouragingly this is down from 78% last year. Almost 4 in 10 (37%) consider the costs associated with back to school as their main concern in the lead up to getting their children ready to return to school, down from 50% in 2019. Interestingly, there has been an increase in parents being concerned amount managing their schedule at 33% up from 20% last year.

The findings were revealed in the annual Republic of Ireland school-costs survey commissioned by the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) and carried out by i-Reach Insights in June 2020 when 948 parents of school going children were surveyed.

The results of the survey also revealed that 66% of parents shop online for school supplies, a rise of 15% from 2019, with respondents citing convenience (59%), saving money (59%) and the availability of better deals (56%) as the main reasons for doing so.

Cutting back on family holidays is still one of the biggest sacrifices that families make to cover back to school costs at 34%, with a quarter cutting back on summer camps. 64% have had to deny their children extracurricular activities with 38% cancelling school trips to help fund back to schools costs.

44% of parents say they feel pressured into buying branded clothing, footwear and other items for their children as opposed to generic or own brand goods, while more than 2 in 3 (69%) believe that schools don’t do enough to help parents keep the costs of going back to school down, an increase of 5% from 2019.​ ​

COVID-19 findings

The ILCU survey also highlighted concerns of parents brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over a fifth (22%) of Irish parents reported that there has been a reduction in their household income as a result of Covid-19. A similar number (21%) are finding the extra cost of feeding their children when home-schooling to have had the biggest effect on household finances.

When it comes to children going back to school, 59% of parents believe there will be a mix of home schooling and classroom for the new term while nearly half (49%) said that they would carefully consider the measures put in place in schools before deciding whether to send their children back to school.

42% of parents are worried about their child’s mental health for the upcoming term if children will not be returning to school in a full-time classroom setting with a further 41% concerned about their children catching up on missed teaching.  42% of parents are already concerned that their children have fallen behind in class as a result of home-schooling during the lockdown, while 23% said they would struggle with returning to work if schools don’t reopen fully.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown, 36% of parents feel their children are spending too much time watching TV or on mobile devices (32%) as a result of being home-schooled. A third of parents (33%) also believe their children are missing their friends from school and may be lonely as a result.​

If schools do not reopen or only partially reopen, 38% of parents stated that they are lacking resources for proper home schooling. These include educational resources and materials (38%) and printing (35%). Nearly a third of respondents cited poor broadband coverage as a major concern in delivering effective home schooling.

ILCU survey shows marked increase in average debt of parents coping with Back to School costs

• Over a quarter (27%) of Irish parents find themselves in debt in order to cover the costs of back to school for their children, with 8% having debts of over €500
• The average debt parents find themselves in to cover the costs of back to school is €397, an increase of €40 from last year
• Parents now spending €1,467 per secondary school child – up €68 on last year
• At primary school level, spending has increased by €174 and now stands at €1,123 per child.
• 69% of parents believe schools don’t do enough to keep costs down

Covid-19 related concerns

• 42% of parents are worried that their children will fall behind in class as a result of home schooling over the past few months.
• Over half (59%) of parents believe there will be a mix of home schooling and classroom for the new term.
• 49% will carefully consider the measures put in place in schools before deciding whether to send their children back to school.
• Over a third of parents said they are not equipped with sufficient resources if full or part-time home-schooling becomes the norm with 29% citing poor broadband as a major concern.

📣 Normal Hours Resume 📣

Our full opening hours are being restored from Monday 29th June, including our popular late night opening every Thursday.

We’ve been serving our members throughout the Covid-19 crisis and now we’re delighted to be back to our usual hours of business, providing our members with all their borrowing & savings needs.

#Malahide #CreditUnion #Opening #Hours ⏰

Check out our new podcast with Dermot McConkey talking Local with Martina Sheridan, Norma Reilly and James Liston.

The podcast highlights and explains in detail our #StayLocaBorrowLocalSpendLocal campaign and the importance of keeping business in our local communities as we adjust to the new norm.

You can listen to the podcast by clicking the play button below.

CREDIT UNIONS WANT YOU

We are delighted to launch our new campaign #StayLocaBorrowLocalSpendLocal to promote the local community and economy as a response to COVID-19. This may be the worst recession since the Great Depression Your Local SME’s and local economy have suffered greatly and need your support.

Throughout the course of this campaign, we will be showing you how to keep economic growth in your community by supporting small and local businesses. It’s down to all of us to keep things going in our communities and stick together as a TEAM.

To kick start this campaign we have prepared an explainer video to show you how you can Stay Local, Borrow Local and Spend Local.

Spread the word and support your local community today!

#TogetherEveryoneAchievesMore #SupportLocal #CreditUnionsforIreland #Malahide

Whether you’re looking to borrow to help with your household expenses or for a larger purchase, we have the right loan to suit you.

Your Credit Union is still the best place for loans and our loan book is very much open.

If you have any questions in relation to any of our loans please complete our online enquiry form and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

We’ve updated our opening hours again as effective from Monday May 11th 2020. Please see our new hours below.

Monday: 10.30am-2.00pm
Tuesday:10.30am–3.00pm
Wednesday: 10.30am–3.00pm
Thursday: 10.30am–3.00pm
Friday: 10.30am–3.00pm

Saturday, Sunday, Bank Holiday CLOSED

Full online services are available through our website www.malahidecu.ie

You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

NOTICE TO MEMBERS

As this Friday 1st May is a European bank holiday, electronic payments in and out of your Credit Union account will not be processed on Friday and may not be processed until Tuesday 5th May, after our own bank holiday on Monday.

Please ensure that you allow additional time for any payments to be processed over this weekend.

Thank you

TEMPORARY CHANGE TO OUR OPENING HOURS

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

Monday           11.00am-2.00pm

Tuesday           11.00am–2.30pm

Wednesday     11.00am–2.30pm

Thursday         11.00am–2.30pm

Friday              11.00am–2.30pm

Saturday, Sunday, Bank Holiday   CLOSED

Full online services are available through our website   www.malahidecu.ie

You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Malahide Credit Union is fully committed to supporting the national response to the ongoing crisis and to do all we can to support our members, staff and our community through these very difficult times.

For members that are experiencing difficulty in meeting loan repayments as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, we have designed an online contact form that can be completed & submitted remotely.

Please bear in mind that we expect to receive a high volume of requests, we will respond to you as soon as we can. Thank you for your patience at this time.

As the effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation are becoming more widespread across the country, we are doing everything we possibly can to keep our staff & members safe.

With this in mind, we shall be restricting our opening hours to allow for deep cleaning to take place three times a day. For that reason, we shall be limiting our opening hours as follows:

Monday: 10.30-12.00pm & 1.00-2.00pm
Tuesday – Friday: 10.30am – 12.30pm & 1.30pm – 3.00pm.

We would kindly ask members only to come into our office if you really have to, self distancing is absolutely vital at this time. Online transacting is the safest way to operate your account at this present time.

We are also taking the further step of reducing cash handling for the safety of our members & staff, so for the time being, cash lodgements can only be accepted for loan repayments. Card payments are welcome for all lodgements. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you, but it’s another step that we feel is necessary.

Our phone lines will continue to be manned during normal office hours, so we can be reached on 01 845 1400 to take loan payments over the phone, deal with any online queries & registrations, plus any other assistance you might need during this difficult period.

Thanks to all our valued members for your assistance at this time.

Register for Online Access: https://bit.ly/39KDh3x
Log into Online Access: https://bit.ly/3aOcELu

#Malahide #CreditUnion #OnlineBanking