SVP receiving 30 calls an hour from parents over back-to-school costs

St Vincent de Paul says the allowances that are provided are a 'long way off' from meeting the needs of struggling parents.

Society of St Vincent de Paul's offices have taken 30 calls an hour this month from parents unable to afford to send their child back to school.

On one day in early August, the charity took almost 450 calls, with many expressing guilt at not being able to meet these costs to support their children.

With households already struggling to pay surging energy bills and other cost-of-living pressures, meeting the full back-to-school costs is “impossible” for some, SVP said.

This is despite increases to the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance and free transport.

The charity said these measures are still “a long way off meeting the needs of families struggling with school costs”.

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Inflation has hit levels not seen since the 1980s this year, with the latest CSO figures suggesting that wage rises haven't been able to keep pace with this surging cost of living.

The Irish Examiner reported in recent days that credit unions in Cork have seen a surge in applications from parents to help meet back-to-school costs, including from families who had not previously needed to borrow at this time of year.

With calls up 20% compared to last year, SVP said half of requests for help came from one-parent families, which reflects the “very high levels of poverty experienced among those families”.

Rose McGowan, the organisation’s national president, said parents often say that by the time they pay their bills, they have little or nothing left to buy food or are struggling to pay for schoolbooks and uniforms.

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 wellbeing," she said.

In one case, a parent said the back-to-school allowance they received didn’t even cover the cost of books.

“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,” they said.

Another said: “All of my partner's wages go on rent and we 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.” 

The back-to-school season places immense financial strain on families.

One parent said they were able to pay bills and food, but it left them with nothing to cover back-to-school costs: "I’m really anxious, I’m losing sleep."

Another said they had to spend €1,400 on an iPad and books and still had to buy their child’s uniform.

Other examples reported by SVP include parents being asked for €150 on the first day and being told “everyone has to pay”, which came after paying for books, uniforms, tracksuits, and stationery.

A core ask of SVP heading into Budget 2023 is the ending of the practice of voluntary contribution in schools, which it said parents often feel compelled to pay.

Its research and policy officer Niamh Dalziel 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 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 €28m.

"This should be a first step in ending the practice of voluntary contribution through an adequate funding system.”