Moroccan Families Struggle with Back-to-Back Holiday and School Expenses

This year, three major events have taken place in succession, namely school holidays, the Eid al-Adha festival, and the start of the school year. This chronology further undermines the situation of Moroccan families with modest incomes, who are experiencing great difficulty in managing their daily lives.

While children find particular pleasure in each of these events, this is not the case for parents who are sometimes forced to take out loans to cope with the endless expenses.

According to a survey conducted in 2016 by the High Commission for Planning (HCP), 20% of Moroccan families face expenses during the months of August and September that exceed their monthly income by 78%.

The average monthly income of Moroccan families, according to HCP data, is around 5,803 dirhams (6,124 in urban areas and 3,994 in rural areas), while the Feast of Sacrifice alone represents 29% of the monthly income.

School expenses, on the other hand, amount to 26% of the income of Moroccan families, knowing that 62.2% of them have school-aged children.