Parents cut back on other items for school expenses

ISTANBUL

Eight out of ten parents cut back on items such as eating out, entertainment and clothing in order to allocate resources for their children’s school expenses in Türkiye, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos, a market research and consulting firm.

As school expenses are an important expenditure item added to the family budgets as of autumn, most parents state that they have difficulties when the heating expenses that start in these months are also taken into account.

Nearly seven out of 10 parents struggling with school expenses cut back on expenditure about the school. While 37 percent of them try to cut down on stationery expenses or use stationery from last year, the children of 36 percent wear the previous year’s uniforms.

In order to reduce food expenses at school, one out of four parents state that they prepare meals for lunch at home.

When asked to compare the expenses with the last year, 70 percent of parents said they have increased “in a way that puts a heavy strain on their budget,” while 24 percent say they have “a little more strain.”

The proportion of parents who do not have difficulties with school expenses is only 6 percent.

In addition to school expenses, over 80 percent of parents try to cut down on other items, especially social life.

They are less likely to eat out, order food from outside and engage in recreational activities such as going to the movies or theatre, while clothing expenditure is another item that they try to cut back on.

The Family and Social Services Ministry launched an aid program for 1 million children in needy households to attend kindergarten, Minister Derya Yanık announced on Feb. 22.

“If our citizens benefiting from our social assistance programs have a child between the ages of 3 and 5 and enroll them in a kindergarten affiliated to the Education Ministry, we will cover the expenses they are obliged to pay for each child,” she said.

The ministry allocates 500 million Turkish Liras ($26.8 million) annually for this aid program, she noted.