This period remains very stressful for parents and especially for women who still often carry the start of the school year on their shoulders. “”I have delayed this task for weeks. It is a hell because I have to calculate everything at the nearest penny “says Charlotte, mother of three children.
According to the study of the League of Families published in April 2024, two out of three families are having difficulty. This is the period when you have to go out a lot of money: school supplies, school subscription, daycare, lunch, swimming pool, clothes, etc.
Legami, Labu, Diddl … Parents will not escape this school year to these trends
“It’s huge and when we talk about the start of the school year for the general, we are 36 % Parents in financially difficulty. All costs related to the child put more and more parents in difficulty and affect audiences that were not before “reacts Madeleine Guyot, Director General of the Families League.
Free up to 3rd primary
Last year, 3,166 children were helped thanks to the call to donations of school supplies launched by Belgian Restos du Coeur. This year, nearly 4,000 are affected. An increase that “testifies to increasing precariousness and more and more needs“, According to the association.
The non-extension of free school supplies in the 4th primary does not help. This school year is no less than 56,000 new students who will have to come with all their equipment purchased by parents.
The exorbitant price of technical and vocational education: the start of the school year can exceed a thousand euros
“We are going to end up with parents who will have to add 120 € in school fees for the first time. The start of the school year is excessively expensive and it is not the back -to -school bonus that will really help”analysis Madeleine Guyot who does not hide his concern and who campaigns for the extension as well as the implementation of the free of supplies calendar to the secondary. “A lot of parents try to find solutions via the second hand circuit.”
The reign of the resourceful
For the first time, Les petits Riens organized a special sale of second -hand clothing and school equipment. More than ever reuse is on the rise. “”At the end of each year and a few days before the start of the school year, I ask children to bring me everything that is still in good condition: schoolbags, binders, eyeshadows, pen, pencils, latte, etc. They know it, there is no question of buying what still works very well. I avoid buying new ones as much as possible, without that, I do not go out “explains Lucie, mother of a boy in primary and a girl in secondary school.
If some cross the border to see if in France the prices are not more attractive, others peel the catalogs looking for promotions. “”I did four different signs and I go out with less than 100 euros but that’s without counting the manuals that you have to buy new “calculates Melody, aware that she will have to pay a little more attention than last year.
Online purchase is not to be overlooked either. “It was a friend who spoke to me saying that I could save great savings. When you know that we have Rhéto’s journey this year, each euro counts”loose Victor.
Parents manage as they can decrease the bill. Federal measures and unemployment exclusions make a complicated school year fear for many families. “”It will be necessary to see the impact on children especially since they know when the parents are in difficulty. Adults set up a lot of tips to avoid making their children pay their poverty. “concludes Madeleine Guyot.