Parents in England skipping meals to afford school uniforms, survey finds | Schools

According to a survey, parents in the UK skip dishes such as Klarna to meet their school uniforms before the autumn period and are already turning to services that will pay payment.

Almost half (47%) of the 2,000 parents participating in the survey said that they were worried about uniform costs that could enter hundreds of pounds due to expensive branded products, and more than one -quarter (29%) forgot to make food or heating to pay for uniform.

In the survey conducted by the parenting aid organization, the struggling parents showed that they were forced into debt. Approximately half (45%) of the respondents planned to use credit cards to pay for the school uniform of their children, and the third (34%) said they would rely on delayed payment services.

Educational Secretary Bridget Phillipson called on the law to help fight schools by reducing the number of uniform -branded uniform elements that students should wear as urgently.

After the government’s welfare and schools become laws, a branded tie limitation for three branded elements and secondary schools from September 2026 and a branded tie for secondary and secondary schools, but Phillipson wants schools to voluntarily move earlier.

“The school uniform is important, but it should not break the bank. No family should choose between putting food on the table and buying a new blazer,” he said. “Parents told us that they want less costly branded products – and this is exactly what we offer. Schools can help ease the pressure on families by reducing the number of branded products they need.”

Currently, schools may ask parents to buy multiple branded products with a school logo, usually with a school logo, many of them want more than five and in some cases 10 items and pushing total uniform costs, including the PE kit.

Within the scope of the new legislation, they will be able to buy uniforms such as shirts or trousers from general retailers such as parents and Marx & Spencer.

About nine of 10 (86%) who participated in the survey involving parents of children aged four to 15 years in the UK felt that wearing branded uniforms did not make any difference in behavior.

Parenkind’s General Manager Jason Elsom said: “Parents have encountered the overwhelming cost of sending their children to school for a long time. For many families, bills rose to thousands of people every year, and uniforms, books, stationery, trips, laptops and travel. These reforms are the first real step towards ending this injustice.

“Bringing branded school uniform goods will immediately make a difference. Our research says that 85% of the parents will reduce the costs, 71% prefer to take the logo and 83% are good quality. This is about keeping money in the pockets of the parents.”

“Many families face wider financial pressures and cannot meet basic opportunities. The ratio of child poverty in the UK is terrible. We hope to see that the government has issued a meaningful strategy to solve this issue in the near future.”

The government announced that millions of families would receive benefit payments before August this year, and payments were initially paid early on Friday, 23 Sunday, 24 Sunday and 25 August Monday, August 25th.

Social Security and Disabled Minister Stephen Timms said, “This is especially important before the new school year – no family should choose between buying school supplies and putting food on the table.”