National Consumer Agency Market Research Findings: Back to School Costs July 2012 Research Conducted by

2 Making Complaints Main Findings: Back to School costs Research Methodology and Sample Profile Table of Contents

3 Making Complaints Main Findings

4 Making Complaints Number of Children Attending School in 2012/2013 One Secondary % Primary (Base: All aged – 1,002) Two Three+ None Average: 1.6 (1.5) 1.5 (1.5) 1 in 5 respondents have a chid of primary school age – equivalent figure for secondary school pupils is 1 in 8.

5 Making Complaints Overlap of Primary & Secondary School Children (Base: All with children in school 2012/2013 N = 251) Primary Only Secondary Only 51%24% 25% Overlap between primary/secondary school children is 25%.

6 Making Complaints Average Back to School Spend Per Child (Base: All with children in school in 2012/2013) Back to School Primary (Base: 186) ************************************* € SCHOOL UNIFORMS (INCL SHOES) SCHOOL BOOKS & STATIONERY GYM GEAR SCHOOL ACCESSORIES (lunch boxes/school bags etc.) TOTAL SPEND ON CHILD Back to School Secondary (Base: 120) ************************************* € SCHOOL UNIFORMS (INCL SHOES) SCHOOL BOOKS & STATIONERY GYM GEAR SCHOOL ACCESSORIES (lunch boxes/school bags etc.) TOTAL SPEND ON CHILD Average primary spend per child = € Average secondary spend per child = €619.82

7 Making Complaints Degree to which Back to School Costs are of Concern A lot more of a concern % N=251 (Base: All with children in school in 2012/2013) 78% A little more of a concern The same A little less of a concern A lot less of a concern A high proportion of parents, 8 in 10(78%), will find back to school costs more of a concern this year.

8 Making Complaints How will Back to School Costs be Met? Will use regular income Will put money aside Apply for back to school allowance Dip into existing savings Use credit card/overdraft Will borrow from friends/family Take out a personal loan Borrow from a money lender Other Don’t know % (Base: All with children in school in 2012/2013) 2012/ % of parents will largely try to make their regular income stretch to cover back to school expenses but nearly 3 in 10 will put money aside for this outlay.

9 Making Complaints Research Methodology and Sample Profile

10 Making Complaints The research was conducted face-to-face using a combination of CAPI and P&P interviewing with 1,002 people between the ages of To ensure that the data is nationally representative, quotas were applied on the basis of age, gender and social class. Interviewing was conducted over a four week period in June A. Research Background and Methodology Nov/Dec 2007 Aug 2008 Nov/Dec 2008 Nov/Dec 2009June 2010 Nov/December 2010 Benchmark Wave 4Wave 5 Wave 1Wave 2 Wave 6 May/June 2011 Wave 7 May/June 2009 Wave 3 Nov 2011 Wave 8 June 2012 Wave 9

11 Making Complaints B. Profile of Sample (Base: All aged – 1,002) Male Female %% Dublin Rest of Leinster Munster Conn/ Ulster ABC1 F50+ C2DE F50- SexAge Region Social Class Quotas were set on age, gender, region and social class to ensure that the sample was representative of the population.