Forget cost of living, there’s a new crisis stressing Aussie parents – and they’re spending $730 a year to avoid dreaded morning chore

Feel like there’s not enough hours in the day? You’re not alone – and many parents are willing to splash a surprising amount of cash to get out of one particularly tedious task.

Time poverty is the biggest pressure felt by parents today, with school morning routines a crunch time for mums in particular, a new survey has found.

A study of 5000 Australian mothers and fathers has found convenience has overtaken cost of living as an issue for 72 per cent of Australian parents.

Parents are willing to pay $730 a year buying ready-to-eat food to get out of 100 hours a year spent making school lunches, with 64 per cent saying the school canteen is a crucial part of their routine.

The Simplifying School Life Report, commissioned by online school ordering platform Flexischools, found the lunch load overwhelmingly falls on mums.

They make 80 per cent of the school lunches and place 85 per cent of school lunch orders. The data shows parents order school lunches an average of 2.5 times a week, spending around $7.30 per order, with 46 per cent of families not reducing their lunch orders despite recent cost-of-living pressures.

For some families, nagging about nutrition means parents feel obliged to supply school lunches far more intricate (and delicious) than a 1980s-style Vegemite sandwich.

One in four families also have to accommodate children’s dietary needs, with modern canteens catering for those with allergies, cultural needs and special diets.

Eight out of 10 parents also want school lunches to be healthy, with 91 per cent saying school canteens are healthier now than in previous eras.

It’s a long way from the sausage rolls and meat pies that 52 per cent of parents surveyed used to spend their lunch money on – followed by 37 per cent who bought icy poles and Paddle Pops, 28 per cent who bought red frogs and lollies, and only 24 per cent who opted for sandwiches and healthier options.

Gen Muir says parents should cut corners where they can.

Rachel Debeck, CEO of Flexischools, said she welcomed more men taking over the “invisible lunch load” – dads’ digital ordering has increased by 36 per cent since 2022.

“Women are often the ones managing the moving parts of family life: lunches, drop-offs, and pick-ups, school events, and everything in between,” she said.

Parenting educator and author Gen Muir said parents were under more pressure than ever before.

“This report lays bare what I hear from families every day: parents are busier, kids are doing more, and the village looks completely different from the one most of us grew up with,” she said.

“With both parents working in nearly three-quarters of households, it’s no wonder so many feel stretched thin. Sometimes the answer isn’t in doing more.”

Louisa Paech and husband Locky say finding the time to get children Oskar and Ella to school with a healthy lunch requires a team effort.

Louisa Paech, mother of Oskar, 8, and Ella, 6, from Matraville in Sydney, said she and her husband Locky both work full-time.

“Money is always a consideration but so is time and peace of mind,” she said.

“We both have quite demanding jobs who travel quite a lot but we both contribute equally.

“One of us will do the mornings and get the kids to school then the other will pick them up. It works for us.”

Ms Paech acknowledged that the “mental load” that mothers also carried, which often involved making lunches before school.

“On Friday the kids get a lunch order but there are also lots of times when it’s a backup as we’ve run out of lunch meat or fruit,” she said.

How do you cope with school lunches? Leave a comment or email [e-mail]

Originally published as Forget cost of living, there’s a new crisis stressing Aussie parents – and they’re spending $730 a year to avoid dreaded morning chore