Social Democrats Spokesperson for Children, Cllr Jennifer Whitmore, has said concerted efforts must be made to bring down back-to-school costs so that parents don\u2019t have to resort to money lenders or use funds earmarked for household bills.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cSimply sending your children to school should not mean having to rob Peter to pay Paul by using income earmarked for household bills, relying on credit cards and, at worst, turning to money lenders.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Social Democrats Spokesperson for Children, Cllr Jennifer Whitmore, has said concerted efforts must be made to bring down back-to-school costs so that parents don\u2019t have to resort to money lenders or use funds earmarked for household bills.<\/p>\n
Cllr Whitmore was commenting on the annual survey commissioned by the Irish League of Credit Unions which shows that two out of three parents found back-to-school costs a financial burden.<\/p>\n
Cllr Whitmore said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s worrying that more than a third of parents in today\u2019s survey said they are taking out loans to meet the costs of children going back to school. This shows the extent of the pressure on parents to find funds for books, lunches, uniforms, school trips, after school activities and grinds.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimply sending your children to school should not mean having to rob Peter to pay Paul by using income earmarked for household bills, relying on credit cards and, at worst, turning to money lenders.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pressure could be relieved if we invested in school book rental schemes, transport and the running of schools. We need to also restore school capitation rates back to 2010 levels so that schools no longer feel the need to ask parents for so-called \u2018voluntary contributions\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cBarnardos have calculated that it would cost an extra \u20ac103m a full year to deliver free primary education \u2013 that\u2019s around \u20ac185 per pupil per year \u2013 and an extra \u20ac126m in secondary education.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Social Democrats believe that this kind of investment would be money well spent in the future of our children and would do a lot to lift the financial burden on parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Constitution says that the State will provide free primary education \u2013 yet the costs many parents face today shows that we are failing children and families when it comes to this most basic and fundamental provision.\u201d<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n
30 July 2018<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Social Democrats Spokesperson for Children, Cllr Jennifer Whitmore, has said concerted efforts must be made to bring down back-to-school costs so that parents don\u2019t have to resort to money lenders or use funds earmarked for household bills. \u201cSimply sending your children to school should not mean having to rob Peter to pay Paul by using […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[268,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Burden on parents of back-to-school costs must be lifted - Social Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ga_IE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Burden on parents of back-to-school costs must be lifted - Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Social Democrats Spokesperson for Children, Cllr Jennifer Whitmore, has said concerted efforts must be made to bring down back-to-school costs so that parents don\u2019t have to resort to money lenders or use funds earmarked for household bills. \u201cSimply sending your children to school should not mean having to rob Peter to pay Paul by using […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Social Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socialdemocratsireland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-30T09:54:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-30T12:34:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/profile.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"487\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"541\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ZOO Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SocDems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SocDems\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ZOO Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ZOO Admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4aa25e1b0ecfe5e51a2ceab9a9006960\"},\"headline\":\"Burden on parents of back-to-school costs must be lifted\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-30T09:54:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-30T12:34:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":386,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/profile.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Jennifer Whitmore\",\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Burden on parents of back-to-school costs must be lifted - Social Democrats\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/profile.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-30T09:54:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-30T12:34:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/profile.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/profile.jpg\",\"width\":487,\"height\":541},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Burden on parents of back-to-school costs must be lifted\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/\",\"name\":\"Social Democrats\",\"description\":\"Change Ireland for the better\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Social Democrats\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ga-IE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/SocDems-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/SocDems-logo.png\",\"width\":846,\"height\":358,\"caption\":\"The Social Democrats\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/socialdemocratsireland\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/SocDems\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4aa25e1b0ecfe5e51a2ceab9a9006960\",\"name\":\"ZOO Admin\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\\\/ga\\\/author\\\/zoo-admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Burden on parents of back-to-school costs must be lifted - Social Democrats","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/","og_locale":"ga_IE","og_type":"article","og_title":"Burden on parents of back-to-school costs must be lifted - Social Democrats","og_description":"Social Democrats Spokesperson for Children, Cllr Jennifer Whitmore, has said concerted efforts must be made to bring down back-to-school costs so that parents don\u2019t have to resort to money lenders or use funds earmarked for household bills. \u201cSimply sending your children to school should not mean having to rob Peter to pay Paul by using […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/","og_site_name":"Social Democrats","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socialdemocratsireland","article_published_time":"2018-07-30T09:54:01+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-30T12:34:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":487,"height":541,"url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/profile.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"ZOO Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@SocDems","twitter_site":"@SocDems","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ZOO Admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/"},"author":{"name":"ZOO Admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/4aa25e1b0ecfe5e51a2ceab9a9006960"},"headline":"Burden on parents of back-to-school costs must be lifted","datePublished":"2018-07-30T09:54:01+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-30T12:34:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/"},"wordCount":386,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/profile.jpg","articleSection":["Jennifer Whitmore","Press Release"],"inLanguage":"ga-IE"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/","name":"Burden on parents of back-to-school costs must be lifted - Social Democrats","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/profile.jpg","datePublished":"2018-07-30T09:54:01+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-30T12:34:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"ga-IE","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ga-IE","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/profile.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/profile.jpg","width":487,"height":541},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/burden-on-parents-of-back-to-school-costs-must-be-lifted-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Burden on parents of back-to-school costs must be lifted"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/","name":"Social Democrats","description":"Change Ireland for the better","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"ga-IE"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#organization","name":"The Social Democrats","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ga-IE","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/SocDems-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/SocDems-logo.png","width":846,"height":358,"caption":"The Social Democrats"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/socialdemocratsireland","https:\/\/x.com\/SocDems"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/#\/schema\/person\/4aa25e1b0ecfe5e51a2ceab9a9006960","name":"ZOO Admin","url":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/author\/zoo-admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.socialdemocrats.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}