I've been listening to the radio a bit more lately (Heart Extra) and this advert comes on a lot. Everytime I hear it it grates on me. It goes along the lines of:
"Most kids don't look forward to going back to school, unless they can own it. Get them the Vapourmax trainers they've been asking for......"
I've looked, and these trainers cost £125! I think there is a lot of pressure on older kids to wear the right labels, and therefore on the parents to buy this stuff. DSS' mum bought him some £65 Nike trainers a few months back, and his dad was shocked by that! They've come apart on the fabric upper, so I think they weren't very good value. He normally out grows shoes rather than ruins them.
If parents have the spare money, that's fine, but some parents won't be able to afford this, some will struggle to even buy new school uniforms. I've read about parents even struggling to feed their children over the summer holidays without free school meals.
I grew up with not much money and my parents couldn't afford luxuries, so maybe I'm biased. And the woman has an annoying voice lol.