PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, August 9, 2006 – The number of schools today requiring school uniforms continues to increase. According to The NPD Group, a leading provider of consumer and retail information, the rate of mandated school uniform policies has risen three percentage points since 2000. The $835 million in items purchased for school uniforms represented approximately five percent of the $17.6 billion total apparel market for kids ages five to fourteen.
While the majority of schools do not include the cost of school uniforms in tuition and fees, many parents are forced to pay for the child’s uniforms independently. NPD found mothers spend an average of $162 on school uniforms per year, per child. About 12 percent of the dollars spent was done online.
When making a school uniform purchase, mothers still find fit and size to be the most important factors. However, some factors have risen in importance in the past five years, such as color availability, style, price and finding a trust-worthy brand. “Brand I Trust” saw the greatest increase – up eight percentage points versus 2000. This attribute was extremely or very important to almost half of those surveyed.
Attitudes Towards School Uniforms
Eighty-six percent of mothers of children who wear school uniforms are in favor of the practice, while just 14 percent were against it. Half of mothers (51%) say their kids are indifferent towards school uniforms, similar to the levels seen in 2000.
The number of mothers reporting their kids like wearing uniforms has decreased six percentage points versus 2000 (25% in 2005 vs. 31% in 2000). As children enter an age of heightened brand awareness and develop a keener fashion sense, they become disenchanted about wearing school uniforms – more than one-third of children age 12-14 dislike wearing school uniforms versus only 14 percent of children age 5-8 years.
“Many children may not like wearing school uniforms, but mothers and a select few kids can find piece of mind knowing that it takes ease off peer pressure and competition of buying and wearing brand name designer clothes,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst, The NPD Group.
About the Report
NPD collected information for School Uniforms 2005: Market Changes and Opportunities in December 2005, via a survey completed by members of NPD’s online consumer panel. The survey was administered to a nationally-representative sample of over 21,000 households with children ages 5-14, of which one-third had children in grades Kindergarten through 8th grade. Of those, 17 percent had children who wore school uniforms.
About The NPD Group, Inc.
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