Six in ten Romanian parents say back-to-school preparations bring more stress than joy (survey)

Back-to-school preparations for the 2025-2026 school year in Romania, which starts on September 8, bring more stress than joy to six in ten parents, with the expenses of starting school being a financial burden for half of them, according to findings of a Reveal Marketing Research survey released on Friday.

"Of the parents who spent more this year than last year, 53% estimate an increase of 10-20%, and 28% of 20-40%. 57% of parents say they feel stress as the new school year approaches, a higher percentage among mothers (63%) than fathers (50%). On the other hand, 33% of parents say they are relaxed, especially those on incomes of over RON 7,000 (44%). As for children, almost half (48%) are described by their parents as having a neutral attitude towards the start of school, 32% show enthusiasm, and 20% experience anxiety and worry," according to the survey, agerpres reports.

According to the findings, the level of tension of parents increases as incomes decrease

"This year the budget allocated to school preparations is either higher than last year (37%) or approximately at the same level (38%). This increase does not necessarily reflect higher consumption, but rather the adjustment needed to cover inflation, with half of parents saying they prefer to remain cautious and purchase only the products that are strictly necessary for their children.' said Marius Luican, General Manager of Reveal Marketing Research," according to Marius Luican, general manager of Reveal Marketing Research.

Regarding the implications of expenses at the beginning of the school year, 54% of parents agree, to a large and very large extent, that they represent a significant part of the monthly income, 52% say that they have led to the postponement of other expenses, 45% that they are difficult to cover from their monthly income, and 43% that they have had to access savings or borrow money.

According to the survey, of the parents who spent more this year, 53% estimate that these costs increased by 10-20% from 2024, and 28% believe that they have increased by 20-40%.

In order to adapt to this new economic reality, parents have developed various saving strategies, with the most often mentioned being buying the bare necessities (55%), choosing products on sale or using loyalty cards (43%), reusing supplies and clothes from previous years (29%) and choosing their own brands or more affordable brands (25%).

As for the preferred locations for purchases, most parents opt for hypermarkets and supermarkets (64%), physical bookstores and stationery stores (35%), online stores (19%) or discounters, bazaars and markets (19%).

The Reveal Marketing Research survey was conducted online between 14-20.08.2025 on a representative sample for people aged 18+, internet users, in urban areas. The sample size was 1,058 respondents, and the maximum sampling error is +/-3.1% at a 95% confidence level.