SALT LAKE CITY — A new study shows parents feel close to the same level of stress during the back to school season as they feel for Christmas and Hanukkah.
Bankrate.com surveyed American adults and found that 51 percent of parents with offspring younger than 18 feel pressure to overspend before school starts.
Compare that to 57 percent feeling the same pressure during the holidays.
Kelly West, student banking manager at Zions Bank, says the pressure is understandable.
“We feel like we need to go out and buy all new clothes for our kids — new shoes, new backpacks,” West said.
But West says that pressure is more felt by parents than by children, who are often ready to join in the budgeting process.
“You may say, ‘You have 50 dollars to spend. You can get one pair of pants for 50 dollars or you can go to this other place and get three pants and a shirt for 50 dollars,’” West said.
The Bankrate survey said the average American household with children will spend $700 on back to school purchases.
