Three years before that, a 2015 Ebates survey revealed that 84% of parents said that shopping for back-to-school clothes was the most unpleasant thing they could possibly do with their teen kids. The biggest stressor? Fear of not being able to afford everything, a response given by 58% of those polled.
Jump back 15 years to 2010, and you’ll see back-to-school shoppers as freaked out as ever.Â
In fact, that year, a quarter of respondents to an Accenture Retail Practice survey used the word “dread” to describe back-to-school shopping, while another 22% said they feel “pressure” to be able to get everything their kids needed. It was the lingering effects of the Great Recession stressing parents out that year—and the year prior, too, when a Slate piece titled “Shopping Scared” quoted an official from the Conference Board saying that “concerns about business conditions and the labor market are casting a dark cloud over consumers.”
The dark cloud remains—and it may be getting darker. In June, TeacherLists released a survey of parents doing back-to-school shopping, 61% of whom described it as “stressful.” Their sentiments took an ominous turn in the press announcement: “the emotional toll is growing.”