One in ten New Yorkers tries to earn money for their children’s school supplies at casinos

According to a Talker Research survey commissioned by Beyond Finance, approximately 8% of parents of New York schoolchildren admitted to gambling in the hope of raising money for school supplies.

The study also found that for 70% of respondents, the cost of their children’s education was arguably the most stressful event of the year.

Two thousand parents participated in the survey. In addition to gambling, respondents cited other ways of raising money to support their children’s education:

• 12% – pawned items;
• 15% took out personal or short-term loans;
• 16% sold property;
• 20% increased their credit card debt;
• 23% opted for deferred payment plans.

As the survey results showed, for 54% of parents, the reason for the high expenses was the fear that their children would be looked down upon by their peers for using items from the previous year. 61% bought their child something non-essential to avoid social judgment, and 42% later regretted these expenses because they led to short-term financial problems.