Back-to-school shopping causes significant stress and anxiety: Survey

Leslie Penkunas//August 8, 2019

Back-to-school is the second biggest shopping season of the year behind the holidays. A recent survey found that 29 percent of parents reportedly feel stressed about this type of shopping and more than a quarter feel anxious. More than one in five parents describe back-to-school shopping as “a pain in the neck.”

The survey, conducted by Flipp, showed that back-to-school shopping is a family event: 87 percent of parents plan to involve their children in the task and 39 percent say this an important family time ritual.

As far as budgeting, the survey revealed that parents plan to spend an average of $440 this year but admit that in previous years they have spent more than they’d budgeted for. More than half (52 percent) of parents surveyed say they will start planning their back-to-school shopping more than four weeks before the start of the new school year; 42 percent begin planning two-four weeks out.

The greatest stressor—cited by 52 percent of parents—for back-to-school shopping is the frustration of trying to find a specific item outlined on a teacher’s list of supplies. Additionally, for some there is a substantial amount of cost involved: a third of the parents surveyed said that they have purchased a smartphone for their children as part of their back-to-school shopping. Of those, 30 percent purchase a new phone each year.

Finally, 20 percent of survey respondents stated that they’d rather do 10 loads of laundry that go back-to-school shopping.

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