Grab Your Wallets, Back-to-School Spending Soars to $1,642, Up 33% from Last Year
August 15 2016 - 10:00AM
Business Wire
Spending on musical instruments and mobile
devices up significantly;Parents to spend average of $505 on
gadgets, with 92% saying kids use tech for school
Summer may still be in full swing, but American families are
already getting ready to “fall” back into the upcoming school year.
According to the latest American Express Spending & Saving
Tracker, parents expect to spend an average of $1,642 on
back-to-school expenses this year, up significantly from $1,239 in
2015.
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Summer may still be in full swing, but
American families are already getting ready to “fall” back into the
upcoming school year. (Graphic: Business Wire)
This coming school year, parents are expected to spend more on
musical instruments ($267 vs. $194 in 2015) and mobile devices
($172 vs. $125 in 2015), among other items also seeing a bump in
spending:
2016
vs. 2015 Plan to purchase
Average Spend School supplies 96% vs. 95%
$138 vs. $111 Clothing & accessories
95% vs. 91% $293 vs. $269 Shoes
94% vs. 91% $145 vs. $120
Outerwear/jackets 82% vs. 75%
$126 vs. $106
Technology(computers/laptops,
tablets,phones, or other mobiledevices)
59% vs. 46% $505 vs. $466 Mobile
devices 52% vs. 41% $172 vs.
$125 Musical instruments 34% vs. 24%
$267 vs. $194
“When looking at trending data on this topic from the past five
years, 2016 is showing the largest year-over-year increase for
back-to-school shopping,” said Jed Scala, Senior Vice President,
Consumer Lending at American Express. “This may be attributed to an
ever-evolving back-to-school shopping list and, perhaps, parents’
ability and willingness to spend more when it comes to education
and extracurricular activities.”
Technology Takeover
As overall back-to-school spend increases, so does the
widespread use of gadgets in the classroom. A whopping 92% of
parents report that their kids are using tech for learning (vs. 82%
in 2015). To accommodate this gradual upswing in usage, six in 10
parents will purchase electronics for the upcoming school year
(59%), spending an average of $505 on gadgets. Laptops will top the
list of most popular back-to-school tech supplies (28% vs. 22% in
2015), followed by tablets (23% vs. 19% in 2015) and cell phones
(19% vs. 14% in 2015).
The use of smartphones for education has steadily increased over
the past four years, with 32% of parents agreeing that smartphones
are a go-to gadget for learning (vs. 29% in 2015, 24% in 2014 and
19% in 2013). Of those parents purchasing a cell phone for
back-to-school season, 73% will purchase a smart phone. However,
whether kids are using phones for personal or educational purposes,
parents say the average acceptable age for a cell phone remains at
12, consistent over the last three years.
Budgeting 101 & Extracurricular Credit
As back-to-school spending rises, parents are finding it more
important to set budgets for certain school-related expenses. For
example, 64% of parents are setting a shopping budget for clothes
(vs. 59% in 2015). Despite setting these spending limits, 23% of
parents say they would still purchase clothing or a tech gadget if
it exceeds their budget because it’s an incentive for their kids to
do well in school (59%, significantly down from 74%), or it’s an
easier trade-off than arguing with their child (19%, significantly
up from 3% in 2015).
In addition to setting budgets, 78% of parents are choosing to
curb their own spending to afford their kids’ back-to-school
expenses (vs. 74% in 2015). Many parents plan to cut down on
“extras” including entertainment, such as plays, movies, sports
games and concerts (42% vs. 38% in 2015); travel (40% vs. 32% in
2015); and extracurricular activities, such as club memberships and
personal hobbies (28% vs. 21% in 2015).
While they may be cutting down on personal extracurriculars,
nearly nine-in-ten (87% - on par with 2015) parents say their child
will participate in at least one after-school activity. Overall,
parents expect to dish out an average total of $409 on these
activities per child (vs. $455 last year) with sports being the
most popular (59% vs. 60% in 2015), followed by band, choir or
music lessons (30% vs. 27% in 2015) and hobby groups (30% vs. 27%
in 2015).
###
About the American Express Spending & Saving
Tracker
The American Express Spending & Saving
Tracker research was completed online among a random sample of
2,050 adults, including the general U.S. population, an affluent
demographic defined by a minimum annual household income of
$100,000, parents of children of grade school children, and parents
of college students. Interviewing was conducted by Ebiquity from
July 6 - 11, 2016. The results among parents of children in
kindergarten through college have an overall margin of error of +/-
2.5 at the 95 percent level of confidence.
About American Express
American Express is a global services company, providing
customers with access to products, insights and experiences that
enrich lives and build business success. Learn more
at americanexpress.com and connect with us
on facebook.com/americanexpress,
foursquare.com/americanexpress, linkedin.com/company/american-express,
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and youtube.com/americanexpress.
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About Ebiquity, Plc.
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Ebiquity enables brands across the world to make better informed
decisions to improve their brand and business performance across
integrated communications channels. Learn more
at ebiquity.com.
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