One quarter of our respondent population have children in
grades K-12. As might be expected, the age group with the
most school-age children is 30-49.
60%
52%
50%
45%
40%
27%
30%
23%
20%
15%
10%
3 in 10 respondents have
school-aged children
3%
0%
Do you have any children (grades K-12) that will be attending school in the fall of 2015?
18-29
30-39
40-49
50-64
65+
The majority of children start school before Labor Day; however, those
in the Northeast have a significantly higher chance of starting after
Labor Day than those in any other region.
After Labor Day
Before Labor Day
100%
Total
80%
20%
0%
0%
20%
40%
24%
27%
73%
82%
79%
When does school start for your child/majority of your children?
18%
21%
60%
80%
100%
Total
41%
59%
MW
West
40%
76%
NE
South
60%
NE
MW
South
West
Regardless of region, back-to-school shopping generally occurs before
Labor Day.
After Labor Day
Before Labor Day
100%
Total
NE
MW
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
20%
9%
81%
87%
79%
67%
When does school start for your child/majority of your children?
40%
60%
80%
100%
Total
11%
NE
10%
MW
5%
South 87%
West
0%
South
14%
West
Families tend to shop together, with only 10% of respondents indicating
they would not be involved in shopping for school supplies
0%
10%
Men
Women
Only 1 in 10 respondents say that
they will not be personally involved in
shopping for school supplies
When do you plan on going shopping for school supplies for your child/children?
5%
10%
15%
20%
17%
4%
25%
Most schools or teachers provide a list of recommended or required
supplies for the upcoming year
81%
4 in 5 respondents say that the school
or teacher provides a list of
recommended supplies
Does the school/teacher provide you with a list of recommended supplies?
Shopping patterns are ambiguous, with approximately half waiting to
receive the list before shopping, and 2 in 10 shopping prior to receiving
the list.
50%
47%
42%
25%
11%
0%
I will do the majority of
I will do the majority of
shopping before receiving shopping after receiving the
the list
list
I will do about half of the
shopping before and half
after receiving the list
Are you most likely to do the majority of your shopping for school supplies before or after you receive the recommended supply list?
A third of the respondents felt they would spend more on school
supplies this upcoming year
75%
49%
50%
35%
25%
14%
2%
0%
Spend more on
school supplies this
year
Spend less school
supplies this year
Spend about the
same amount of
school supplies this
year
Compared to last year, are you likely to spend more/less/the same amount of money on school supplies this year?
This will be my first
year buying school
supplies
Walmart is the most popular location where parents purchase back-toschool supplies
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
39%
STAPLES is a favored shopping location
for those in the Northeast, men, and
who have a college education or higher.
33%
20%
75%
29%
Supermarkets
20%
DOLLAR stores
38%
Retail Pharmacies
Other
20%
6%
Where are you likely to shop for school supplies this year?
Respondents in the South shop at
Walmart and Dollar Store variants
significantly more than those in other
regions
Only one-third of parents plan to purchase a computer or tablet for
school use
Don't Know;
15%
33%
Plan to purchase
Not
Purchasing;
52%
When you go shopping for school supplies, are you planning on purchasing any type of computer (laptop or desktop) or tablet for your child/children to use?