Ursula Meighan Workers Party Representative for Black Mountain has responded to the latest survey highlighting that 71% of find school costs as financial burden.

Ms Meighan said for years the Workers Party has been highlighting the plight of parents particularly those from working class families in providing for their children returning to school for the new school year. Two in five parents have said they had gone into debt to cover expenses this is a shocking statistic given the ongoing cost of living crisis that exists.

Parents are seeing the prices for items rising since the last school year and parents expect to spend on average over £1300 across the school year for primary school children and over £2000 for secondary school costs. These figures become staggering for low-income families who are already struggling to make ends meet. Going back to school is becoming a nightmare for parents trying to provide uniforms, lunches, day trips and other expenses.

No parent wants to see their children having to feel left out of school events but it means many of them must skip meals themselves to provide for these school extras. The Workers Party has supported the call for universal free school meals as a small step in dealing with poverty but really what is needed is the introduction of the promised Anti-poverty Strategy and the Good jobs Bill as the initial starting point in dealing with poverty, areas of multiple deprivations, and the massive inequality suffered by working-class people. Parents should not have to carry the extra financial burden of providing branded school uniforms which was supposed to be dealt with under the school uniforms guidelines.