Study: Parents in Austria Spend €2,200 Annually per Child on Education

Study: Parents in Austria Spend €2,200 Annually per Child on Education

APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER

 

Parents in Austria spend an average of €2,223 per year on their child’s education, with the highest costs for students in AHS upper secondary or vocational schools, according to a study by the Chamber of Labour (AK).

The lowest costs are reported for children in AHS lower secondary or middle schools, with primary schools falling somewhere in between.

Around 2,500 parents, with nearly 4,000 schoolchildren, kept a detailed record of school-related expenses for a year (July 2023 to July 2024), ranging from exercise books and computers to after-school care, private tutoring and the costs of sports trips.

The findings were then analysed by the Foresight research centre.

According to the data, individual expenses vary greatly as not all parents face the same costs each year. However, nearly all parents must pay for general school supplies or books, with an average expenditure of around €300 annually. Around three-quarters of parents reported costs for “specialised school materials and clothing,” which include gym kits, work aprons or, in some vocational schools, cooking utensils or uniforms. On average, these amounted to just over €200.

Roughly a third of parents third of parents spent money on computers, tablets, and IT equipment, averaging €529. There were also costs for one-day (55%) and multi-day school trips (42%), private tutoring (28%), contributions and co-payments (61%), and after-school care (37%).

In response to the study, AK President Renate Anderl highlighted the urgent need for public schools to be made completely free. Parents often face significant expenses in one go, and many struggle to afford them.

“Educational success is largely privatised,” Anderl stated during a press conference on Tuesday.

To address this, the AK is advocating for a substantial expansion of all-day schools and a funding model based on an opportunity index, which would direct more resources to schools with particular challenges. Furthermore, school events and support for students with learning difficulties should be free of charge. Teachers, too, should be given a budget to purchase school supplies such as notebooks and pens for their pupils.

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