2004-9-2
This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Economics Report.
Most children in the United States are returning to school after
the summer holiday. Public education for children in the United
States is free. But parents still have to buy equipment, new clothes
and other supplies for their children before every new school year.
The National Retail Federation studies such sales each year. It
is an organization of many kinds of stores, as well as companies
that sell goods by mail order and the Internet. The group recently
released a report on back-to-school sales this year. The report says
American parents will spend almost fifteen thousand million dollars
this year to prepare their children for school.
A research business carried out the study for the National Retail
Federation. It asked more than eight thousand Americans about their
back-to-school needs and shopping and spending plans.
The study found that ninety-three percent of families with
school-age children plan to purchase clothes, shoes and school
supplies.
Families will spend an average of almost five-hundred dollars on
those things. This is an increase of more than seven percent from
last year. Almost half of those questioned also said they planned to
spend about one hundred dollars on electronics and computer-related
products. The National Retail Federation says that would be a
fifteen percent increase from last year. The group says most
families have enough money to buy electronic and computer equipment
for their children. It says this helps parents continue their
children's education at home.
Half of the parents in the study said their children would be
using their own money to buy some things for school. Teenaged
children are expected to spend about eighty five dollars each for
supplies. And, twenty-three percent of parents said even their
younger children will buy some things for themselves.
To help shoppers save money, several cities permit people to buy
some goods without paying sales tax. Washington, D.C., is one such
city. It observed a ten-day sales tax holiday in August. During this
period, people could buy clothing, shoes or school supplies that
cost less than one-hundred dollars without having to pay sales tax.
This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Caty
Weaver. This is Gwen Outen.