consumption
Camps, vacations and back to school: What happens to our expenses in the summer?
Freedom has no price, but the great freedom has a heavy price: Returning to school may seem far-fetched, but it will soon begin to weigh on parents' pockets, left empty after summer camps and vacations.
How much do the special expenses of the summer cost us - and how much will it cost us to equip the children for the start of school?
Dr. Hezi Gur Mizrahi
14/07/2022
Thursday, 14 July 2022, 09:44 Updated: 10:08
Share on Facebook
Share on WhatsApp
Share on Twitter
Share on Email
Share on general
Comments
Comments
Children return to school.
Even if we survive the prices of summer camps and vacations, it will be the turn of bags and pencil cases (Photo: Reuven Castro)
In early July, our children went on the long-awaited summer vacation and are expected to return to school in early September, that is, subject to the results of negotiations by the Ministry of Education ,
Finance and Mrs. Yaffa Ben David of the Teachers Union.
Studies show that household expenditure grows in July and August - not on consumer goods: the average expenditure on culture and education is 12% of the total average household income, compared with food expenditure which stands at 17% and housing expenditure which stands at about 25%. For us on summer vacation and the costs of going back to school we understand why it is difficult to live here and support a home and family.
The peak demand for loans to private households was recorded in September each year.
The prevailing interpretation is that it is because of the holiday shopping, but this turns out to be a wrong assumption - in an examination with bank economists we were able to identify that the need for loans stems from the suffocation created after the summer months, combined with a longing for Tishrei.
The numbers also support this thesis: the average household income is about NIS 18,000 and the summer expenses are higher.
Like those who have children do not forget for a moment: in early July the children retired from the school bench for a two-month vacation.
Even if they are large enough to remain on their own, assuming we are not interested in finding them glued to the screen and feeding on junk food, we will have to find a suitable framework for them.
One of the solutions is to find a summer camp that will integrate them in a challenging framework for a period of two weeks to a month and a half.
The 2022 summer camp market is different from what we knew as children.
If in the past the camps would only offer a table of maximum attractions from the amusement park to the amusement wave today the parents want to feel that they are giving value to their children and calming the conscience by paying extra for camps "with added value".
What is it like?
Our willingness to pay about 30% more for fortified milk, even if it is not clear to us exactly what (apart from our money) made it richer.
This is how the camp operators also learned that with the right marketing, we can conquer our hearts - from there the road to the pocket is short.
Thus, we will spend hundreds of shekels a month on football camps, animal camps, high-tech camps, ninja and sports camps, baking camps, sewing and fashion design, swimming and surfing camps and nature and environment camps.
And make no mistake: the prices of the camps can reach as much as 10,000 shekels per participant - and if you have more than one child and you do not plan to include them in a subsidized camp of the local authority, this is not a cheap attraction.
School equipment and accessories.
Wise consumption can reduce spending (Photo: Daniel Malachovsky)
Consume less and pay more
While we are at work and our children are on vacation and spending time in various attractions, our consumption patterns change: in July-August, the consumer goods market loses on average about 3.5% of sales.
Now pay close attention to the following figure: in quantities it is a decrease of up to 6%.
Meaning: The average price per growing item.
When retailers
are asked why, the common answer is "all the people of Israel abroad."
Going to summer camps where they take care of a tidy meal.
In addition, during the summer vacation we spend more time with the family outside the home kitchen and our expenses on restaurants and food outside the growing house, the composition of our shopping basket changes.
A senior official at one of the major food companies tells us about the consumption patterns of households that in summer contain more quick-to-prepare products.
His company, for example, markets a well-known series of products under the concept of fast food from the freezer directly to the microwave, which gives the user a quick solution.
In the summer months the demand for these products is increasing.
We checked
among the two largest food manufacturers in Israel - Strauss and Tnuva, and found an increase in sales of brands such as Strauss' Delicious or Tnuva's "Mama Chicken" and delicacies.
While the parents are happy that a hot meal for children has been found between snacks (although some of the dishes are not exactly from the field of healthy food).
More on Walla!
The game of colors: Do you know what goes into each recycling bin?
In collaboration with the Tamir Recycling Corporation
From a break for a break to a bottle of water: how much will we spend on food for school? (Photo: Daniel Malakhovsky)
Summer Expenditure Basket
A survey we conducted in 2018 among all Israeli residents found one figure that crosses sectors: religious, secular, Arab, urban, rural and other: 87% of respondents who are a family unit with one or more children, answered that they plan a summer vacation.
The characteristics are different, of course: on the borders of Israel or overseas, whether it is camping on the shores of the Sea of Galilee or a vacation in the Maldives.
Of course there will be a significant deviation between the design and the actual execution, due to the changing costs and events.
The average family vacation cost is about 16,000 shekels per household (a couple of parents and two children) and if we add the cost of the basic summer camp and household expenses on consumer goods, we will reach an amount of about 25,000 shekels surplus expenses for July and August, before housing, education and transportation expenses - And we have not yet talked about how much it costs to return to the school bench.
Bag, notebooks, pencils and paints.
How much will the equipment cost us for returning to school? (Photo: Daniel Malakhovsky)
How much does it cost to return to school?
Going back to school is not cheap.
It has long been more than just a functional purchase of pencils, pens and notebooks.
In an age where every child is exposed to the media, shopping towards returning to school has also become a question of branded trendiness.
In the past it was the property of 16-year-olds, but today in the 1,000th grade we encounter competitive consumption patterns: if the lunch bag is without a picture of minions and the drinking bottle is not branded Bob the Builder or Elsa, it is doubtful we will be able to handle bag preparation.
The school shirt costs us an average of 20 shekels for first graders - while the same shirt with a print by LOL or Sami the fireman will cost us 5 times as much.
So maybe education in Israel, at least according to the law, is "free", but the lists of equipment we receive combined with the need for the child to feel acceptable, causes us to fail in education for wise consumers: a bag for NIS 500, shoes for NIS 500, a notebook for NIS 50 , A diary for NIS 50, a smartphone for NIS 5,000 and a laptop for another NIS 5,000, the main thing being angry on Facebook later because the price of eggs jumped from 11.30 per template to NIS 12.10. Without us noticing, we educate the new generation that it's okay to pay - A price survey is intended for the pasta of a barn and a cottage in Tnuva.
The cost of returning to school will cost us an average of NIS 1,250 for equipment and stationery, but we will spend a similar amount on clothing. So if you asked why housing prices have soared, it's because someone needs to fund the expenses.
We conducted sample surveys of common back-to-school products, from a writing notebook to the pavrama we put in a sandwich - and looked at how much it cost us at each of the chains.
The author is the director of the Institute for Retail Research
. The full survey will also be published in the "Business" issue of Maariv, Friday, July 15.
Of money
consumption
Compare prices
Tags
back to school
back to school
Summer Vacation
Camps
Vacations
