More than one in four parents say they take on debt to cover back to school costs for their children, a new report has found.
It shows the average debt incurred is €368, which is an increase of €62 on the same figure last year.
The survey, from the Irish League of Credit Unions, was carried out last month with 716 respondents taking part online.
The report also found that 62% of those surveyed said that covering the cost of returning to school is a financial burden - a decline of 10% on the figure from last year.
ICLU Chief Executive David Malone said while there is still an "onerous" cost for parents, the introduction of the Free Book Scheme and the expansion of the Hot Meals initiative have eased the burden for some families.
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According to the report, the spend for parents amounts to €1,086 per child for primary school and €1,401 per child for secondary school parents.
The research also found that 86% of parents with schoolchildren say their income or household costs have been affected by the rising cost of living, with 91% of those affected experiencing additional grocery costs and 89% seeing additional costs to utility bills.
Two thirds of those surveyed believe schools do not do enough to help keep the costs of going back to school down.
