More than a third of parents in Ireland say they're getting into debt to cover back-to-school costs.
The Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) survey found this is a noticeable increase on the 29% who reported being in debt last year.
Parents of primary school children are, on average, in debt of €367 - up from €345 in 2017.
For secondary school parents, the average debt reported is €443 compared with €415 last year.
Source: ILCU
Almost half (46%) say that costs are their biggest back-to-school related worry, ahead of a concern that children will not settle or make friends (15%).
In general, just over one-third of parents say they'll have to sacrifice spending on family holidays to meet school costs.
While 22% say they will have to cut spending on household bills and 15% say spending on food will have to suffer.
Source: ILCU
When asked why their preferred option was a moneylender, 46% of this group said they felt they would be guaranteed the money and that the approval processes in banks and credit unions would be more difficult.
And 42% said they felt they had no other option because they had a bad credit history.
