The start of the school year in Spain, popularly known as “back to school”, involves a significant investment in school materials, textbooks, uniforms and other items essential for the educational development of students.
According to a recent study carried out by idealo.es, Spanish families are preparing to face considerable expenses in this return to school in 2024. This poses an economic challenge for many households in a context of increasing pressure on family budgets, since they do not only reflect the dynamics of the educational market, but also highlights the importance that Spanish families give to the education of their children, being willing to make a significant financial effort to guarantee that they have all the necessary resources for their training.
The economic impact of going back to school on Spanish homes
The study reflects the magnitude of the expense that Spanish families must face when returning to school. For this year 2024, it is expected that the average disbursement per child will reach €491.9, a figure that represents a large increase compared to previous years. This increase is not an isolated event but is part of a trend that we have been observing in recent years, with an average expenditure of €449.23 in 2023 and €425.01 in 2022.
Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO) students will have an approximate expense of €900, being the ones that increase the least. Expenses for Bachiller students will exceed €1,000 per student.
Most of this budget is allocated to textbooks, with an average cost of €341.99. This data highlights the financial burden that educational materials place on families. The rest of the budget is distributed among other essential items such as backpacks, tracksuit/uniform, stationery and sports shoes.
The need to make such a significant investment in a relatively short period of time can put considerable financial stress on households, forcing many parents to look for strategies to optimize their expenses and ensure that their children have everything they need for the new school year. school.
Digitalization in education: an alternative with high costs
The incorporation of digital technologies in the educational field has opened new possibilities for learning, but it has also introduced new factors into the economic equation of back to school. This study reveals that, although the average cost of returning to classrooms with digital textbooks remains below the traditional kit, this has also experienced a significant increase in recent years.
By 2024, it is estimated that the average expense for a digital return to school will be €331.91, which represents an increase of 28% compared to the previous two years.
Another particularly striking aspect is Spain’s position in the European context regarding the price of e-book devices. The country is first in terms of the increase in the average price of these devices, with an increase of 41.84% since August 2022. This figure far exceeds the increases observed in other European countries such as France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany.
Therefore, this phenomenon raises questions about the accessibility of digital solutions in the Spanish educational field and their impact on equal educational opportunities.
Strategies to face school expenses
Faced with the panorama of increasing costs associated with going back to school, both in the traditional and digital spheres, Spanish families find themselves in the need to develop strategies to optimize their expenses and face this financial challenge.
Therefore, we make a series of recommendations to help families face this expense:
- Compare prices both in online stores and in physical establishments: this can reveal significant differences in the costs of the same products, allowing you to obtain the best possible prices. In addition, it is advisable to reuse materials from the previous year whenever possible, as this benefits families economically and promotes more sustainable consumption habits.
- Explore second-hand options for certain items: Used product markets, both online and physical, can offer quality alternatives at considerably lower prices than new products.
- Plan purchases in advance: by starting the purchase of school supplies well in advance, families can take advantage of offers and promotions that usually occur in the months prior to the start of the school year. This strategy not only allows you to obtain better prices, but also helps to spread the expense over a longer period.
On the other hand, the cost of going back to school is not uniform throughout the Spanish territory, since there are significant variations depending on the autonomous community and whether it is an urban or rural area.
In communities such as Madrid, Catalonia or the Basque Country, expenses are usually higher due to the higher cost of living and the wider range of educational activities and resources. On the contrary, in more rural or less populated regions, expenses may be slightly lower, although the difference is not always significant.
In conclusion, the return to school in Spain for this year 2024 is presented as a period of significant economic challenge for families, especially those with several school-age children. In an economic context like the current one, this expense becomes a significant challenge, since a significant percentage of Spanish families must resort to debt or adjust their expenses in other areas to be able to face the costs associated with the start of the school year.
