Back-to-school season isn’t cheap. It’s always been insanely expensive for all the supplies, the clothes, the tech, and whatever else schools are making you buy for the entire classroom. The difference today is how far parents are willing to go to hide how they come up with that money.
A new survey of 2,000 parents of school-age kids, conducted by Talker Research for Beyond Finance, found that 8% have turned to gambling to cover school supply costs. For context, 15% took out personal or payday loans, 16% sold their stuff, 12% pawned belongings, and 23% leaned on buy-now, pay-later options. And 20% just put it all on a credit card and made it their future-them’s problem.
The numbers put it in perspective. According to the National Retail Federation, families with K-12 kids expect to spend an average of $863 this school year, a record high. A separate GMA/Ipsos poll put that number closer to $885 per child. If you have two kids, that’s already a mortgage payment. If you have three, congratulations on your new part-time job.
Parents Are Taking Extreme Measures to Afford Back-to-School Supplies
The money is only part of it. The survey found that 70% of parents feel trapped in what researchers are calling a “back-to-school parent trap,” describing the pressure to buy their kids the same brand-name gear as their classmates despite being financially stretched. More than half said they worry about being judged if they send their kid back in last year’s jacket. Sixty-one percent have bought something specifically to keep their child from feeling left out, and 42% later regretted it.
This guilt spiral produces some staggering purchases. One parent dropped $1,200 on a MacBook Air because all his son’s friends had one. Another spent $600 on a Coach wallet for their kid. A wallet. For a child.
“When parents feel caught between protecting their child’s emotional well-being and protecting their family’s financial future, it’s easy to make decisions that provide short-term relief but create long-term financial stress,” said Dr. Erika Rasure, chief financial wellness advisor at Beyond Finance.
The collateral damage runs the gamut. Parents are skipping restaurant meals (35%), cutting personal spending (28%), and putting off savings contributions (23%). Fifteen percent are delaying rent or mortgage payments. And while 57% of parents in the Deloitte 2026 Back-to-School Survey say they expect the economy to worsen in the next six months, they’re still spending, just with more guilt and less margin for error.
Children’s feelings are valid. The social cost of showing up to school with the wrong backpack is a social death sentence, especially in adolescence, and dismissing that would be lazy. But when gambling becomes a legitimate line item in the back-to-school budget, the problem is bigger than a backpack.
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