Squeezed households resort to high-interest credit for back-to-school and work costs

Back-to-school and work costs are forcing parents to resort to high-interest credit fixes to juggle household budgets already squeezed by holiday spending , a new survey shows. A whopping 70% of respondents faced with these expenses reported negative impacts, the BNZ Voice survey found. More than a third (37%) said they were turning to high-interest lending such as buy now, pay later services and credit cards to cover costs.

The biggest start-of-year expenses were stationery (53%), transport (42%), school and work uniforms (42%) and technology-related costs (40%). “The financial pressure at the start of the year is very real for some households, especially after the holiday period when budgets are already stretched,” BNZ executive for personal and business banking Anna Flower said..