The majority of parents struggle financially when it comes to back-to-school shopping, according to a new report. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) says 56 per cent of Canadian parents can’t fit school supplies within their normal household budgets, with rising prices as the main reason. “Things are more expensive, so it is not the case that folks are buying more things or different kinds of things that happen to be more expensive, it is that the cost of everything they’re buying is going up,” said BCG managing director and partner Trap Yates. Nearly 60 per cent of parents also expect to spend more than they did when compared to last year, with the average family budgeting close to $700. BCG says lower-income households expect to spend about $525 this season, while top earners are planning for $925. “Lower-income families are planning to spend materially less and are still struggling to absorb the bill. For many parents, protecting the school list means spending less elsewhere with dining out, entertainment, and non-school clothing reported as the first categories to be cut,” the report reads. Yates also noted a newer trend this year when it comes to spending. “Middle- and lower-income Canadians are going to be dipping into their savings or taking on debt to afford back to school this year versus higher income Canadians and that I think is relatively more new versus years past,” he said. Despite more parents using AI tools to shop, BCG says a more digital world does not mean a digital basket. “If you looked at the survey a year ago, Canadians were not really using AI as part of their shopping journey. We were considerably behind other markets in terms of are folks using ChatGPT to plan their shopping list and where they should go to buy things and we’re seeing a very large increase in Canadians that are using AI in this shopping season,” said Yates. Clothing, shoes, stationery, bags and gear are considered must-buy items, while tech hardware and accessories are much lower on the list. “The reason that we’re seeing less spend on tech in the back-to-school basket is that folks already have the tech they need and so back-to-school is not the critical occasion to buy the technology,” said Yates. “We’ll see more of that I think for Black Friday and Christmas.” Many families were out back-to-school shopping in Dartmouth Wednesday. Andrews Hicks, who was on a family vacation from Gander, N.L., was shopping with his children. While he said he hasn’t noticed prices skyrocketing this year, he has felt the pinch. “In the last five years, they’ve jumped a fair bit. Since COVID, it’s been steadily increasing and it’s getting harder and harder,” he said. For the Spears family, with two daughters in high school, costs aren’t the only reason they’re digging deeper this back-to-school season. “We’re spending more and it’s probably the first time I said, ‘OK, let’s talk about what your budget is coming in,’ and it’s the brands. They have certain brands and certain expectations, so it’s maybe not a full wardrobe and a few items here or there,” said mom Jennifer Spears. BCG says it surveyed more than 1,200 Canadian parents for the report.
