Back to school means helping children learn shopping lessons

By Lori Hendrickson, University of Minnesota Extension

ST. PAUL, Minn. (8/13/2007) — It’s that time of the year again when newspapers are stuffed with store circulars advertising back-to-school savings. How do you make appropriate choices for the children that meet their school needs plus the styles they want? How much should you spend?

The National Retail Federation reports that consumers are spending, on average, $232 on back-to-school clothing and accessories this year. Footwear sales are expected to be up 10 percent to $108 per family.

Young people have quite an influence on the back-to-school purchases that adults make during this time of year. In the National Retail Federation survey, 31 percent of parents surveyed indicated that one-half of their back-to-school spending is a direct result of the child’s influence. This is important to know as you begin back-to-school shopping.

Children’s influence on parents’ purchasing can be a way to begin a discussion of needed and wanted items for the school year and how they fit into the planned budget. Items that don’t fit into the parents’ spending plan may provide an opportunity for young people to purchase some additional “wanted” items for the new school year using their own money.

Regardless of the amount parents will be spending, it’s important to communicate with the child about the plan, and items the parent feels are necessary purchases. It’s also important to provide the child some opportunities to make selections that meet with parental approval and fit within the budget.

We need to provide young people some opportunities to make some decisions, so they begin to learn about consumer decisions they’ll make throughout their lives. Back-to-school shopping provides an opportunity for parents to help guide children through that process.

Any use of this article must include the byline or following credit line:
Lori Hendrickson is a family resource management educator with University of Minnesota Extension.

Media Contact: Julie Christensen, U of M Extension, (612) 626-4077, reuve007@umn.edu

U of M Moment: Using Back to School Shopping to Teach Kids Healthy Spending Habits

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (8/16/2007) – The "University of Minnesota Moment" radio feature for the week of Monday, August 20th, is available to Minnesota radio stations for free:

Using Back to School Shopping to Teach Kids Healthy Spending Habits

The average American family spends a whopping $563 every fall on back to school shopping. Lori Hendrickson, a University of Minnesota Extension educator, says this is a prime opportunity to teach children budget basics and encourage responsible spending.

For more information, visit University of Minnesota Extension’s Youth and Money site: www.extension.umn.edu/Youth&Money

Fully produced :90 feature: blog.lib.umn.edu/urelate/radio/SchoolShopping.mp3
Raw audio: blog.lib.umn.edu/urelate/radio/SchoolShopping-Raw.mp3

The feature as well as an archive can be found at blog.lib.umn.edu/urelate/radio.

URL: http:// www.extension.umn.edu/extensionnews/2005/2007backtoschool.html  This page was updated Aug. 22, 2007 .
Online Privacy Statement.  Contact Information.

University of Minnesota Extension is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
Copyright  ©  Regents of the University of Minnesota.  All rights reserved.