Surveys by The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation confirm the notion that we have a problem with planning expenditures. This is so despite a variety of events during the year which require from us significant financial outlays, such as sending our children to school. We act at the last moment - nearly one out of eight parents don't start thinking about school supplies for their kids until a week before the first bell...
The latest survey by The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation indicates that 62% of parents think about school supplies a month before the start of the school year, but as many as 13% start buying them only a week before the 1st of September. People who need to support more children are more likely to plan their expenditures, with only 7% of them starting purchases of school supplies in the week before the start of the school year. The vast majority (70%) complete their shopping a month before.
"For people with children September is a month of expenditures. Textbooks, notebooks, supplies, new clothes - all of this can be a burden on the household budget. However, if we planned such expenditures, for sure they would not be so painful," says Krzysztof Kaczmar, President of The Citi Handlowy Leopold Kronenberg Foundation. "Unfortunately, we Poles don't think ahead about our finances. This is confirmed by our regular survey "Attitudes of Poles towards Saving", according to which only 7% of us plan expenditures at least a year in advance. Fortunately, although we are not good at planning, we have a sensible approach to taking credit and so-called "fast loans". Only 5% of parents resort to such solutions in order to provide their kids with supplies necessary for school."
Who has the greatest difficulties with providing school books and supplies? 80% of respondents point to the group with the lowest incomes (under 2000 PLN). 86% of parents with two (or more) children complain about the amount of expenditures on school books and supplies and their negative effect on their household budget. Similar sentiments are expressed by 58% of people living in big cities (over 200,000 inhabitants) and 67% of those living in rural areas.
