TORONTO – Canadian parents are spending more on back-to-school items for their tweens this year than last, according to a survey commissioned by Corus’ youth channel, YTV.
Nearly half (47%) of parents of kids aged 9 to 14 say they’re shelling out more bucks this year, while only 5% are spending less.
The survey estimates that parents are spending more than $800 million on clothes, school supplies, and computer items this season, or an average of $316 per child.
Sixty percent of parents say they’re spending more on clothes, mainly because their kids want to have the same things their friends are wearing. But to the kids themselves, it’s more important to have the latest technological items than the hottest brand name clothes, the survey found.
Parents and tweens may not agree on what to buy or how much to spend, but they largely do agree on where to shop.
The 11th annual YTV Tween Report survey was conducted across Canada in August of 1,100 parents of kids aged 9 to 14. It was conducted by Toronto-based Solutions Research Group and is considered accurate to plus or minus 3.6%, 19 times out of 20.
