Parents sacrifice food to afford kids’ school uniform

More than one in four parents will go without food or heating to afford school uniform, a survey has suggested. Nearly half (45 per cent) use credit cards to pay for uniform, while more than a third (34 per cent) use ‘buy now, pay later’ schemes, such as Klarna, to cover costs, a poll revealed. In the poll of 2,000 parents of school-age children by charity Parentkind, 47 per cent of parents are worried about the cost of buying uniform for the start of the school year.

- Eleanor Busby, The Independent

The Education Secretary has called on schools to reduce the number of branded items of uniform they require ahead of an incoming change in the law. Speaking ahead of the new term, Bridget Phillipson said no family should have to choose between “putting food on the table” and buying school uniform. Her comments come as a survey, carried out by Censuswide between July 31 and August 7, found 29 per cent of parents said they will go “without heating or eating” to pay for school uniform. Nearly a third (31 per cent) of parents said they were likely to go into debt to buy school uniform.

The poll — of parents of children aged four to 15 who attend state schools in England — found that 46 per cent said they make personal sacrifices and “go without” to pay for school uniform. The government's Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill includes a proposal to cap the number of branded uniform items schools in England can require. The Bill, which is currently being considered in the House of Lords, plans to require all schools in England to reduce the number of compulsory branded uniform items to three, plus a branded tie for secondary and middle schools.