Back-to-school shopping presents ‘pain point’ for families amid high prices

Parents are struggling with back-to-school shopping in an era of stubbornly high prices.

Multiple recent surveys show parents feel they are spending more on clothing and classroom supplies than before and may delay essential purchases or bills in order to afford their student’s supplies.

And on top of thinking about their own children, parents are in some cases being asked to help bring in supplies and materials for the classroom for everyone to share as teachers also are seeing hardship as the school year nears.

“We ask parents, ‘What is the No. 1 thing that’s on your mind right now?’ It’s inflation and the economic struggle that so many families are in right now, and when we talk about back-to-school, that is just one of the main pain points for American families, because it brings into light just how much pressure we’re really under in this moment,” said Keri Rodrigues, founder and president of National Parents Union.

In a WalletHub survey from last week, 52 percent of parents said they expect to spend more on back-to-school shopping than last year. 

And both parents and teachers are reaching into their own wallets to help cover supplies for the classroom.

Pascale Small, a mother from California with three kids in school, told The Hill she has received “three different lists from three different teachers that I have to go and shop for.” 

“And most of our lists don’t just include things that I’m buying for my kids to use, but they also include school supplies for the whole class to use. So our back-to-school shopping includes having to purchase more than what I will potentially need, more than what my kids will need for schools that I feel like need to be fully funded, and as I struggle already trying to make sure that my kids have what they need for school,” Small said.

While inflation, which measures how quickly costs rise, has come down this summer, prices are still well above their prepandemic levels. Since the pandemic, the cost of goods has gone up nearly 21 percent.

According to a survey by Deloitte released last month, parents will be spending $586 per student this year, potentially totaling some $31.3 billion for the retail industry. That’s actually down slightly from from last year, when per-student shopping was at $597.

Lupine Skelly, retail, wholesale and distribution research leader at Deloitte, told The Hill parents are “entering their second back-to-school year with very high prices” and “we are seeing a lot more kind of frugal behaviors this year.”

“So, I think more people, and especially in the low- and middle-income groups, are saying they’re trying to stick to their budget,” Skelly said.

“I think retailers are really aware of what’s going on with this situation, and they’re concerned too,” she added. “I think this idea of like, ‘Hey, let’s offer these really great promotions earlier in the season.’ So we definitely saw that strategy to pull sales forward and kind of get people engaged earlier.” 

But those strategies can only go so far until families feel the pinch elsewhere. 

An Intuit Credit Karma study Thursday showed around 50 percent of parents will pause essential purchases for a household such as groceries and bills to keep up with the cost of school supplies. The number is greater for Generation Z parents, at 60 percent, and millennial parents, with 56 percent giving up essentials to afford back to school items their children need. 

“What my family normally does is we buy now during the summer months for the fall. If we see really good sales, we try to take advantage and try to be as savvy as we can, to try to make the dollar stretch,” Small said. “I can do all that I can do to try to find the best deals I can do, all that I can do to make sure I’m buying my school supplies ahead of time and in bulk so that I’m not paying as much, but things are still costing more than they used to.” 

“And again, I am a family of five,” she added. “I have three kids. That starts to add up a lot. That might mean that I don’t pay, possibly, today right away. It might mean that I’m prioritizing shopping for them first, or it may mean that — I do have to still pay for the things I need to pay for my home, to make sure we keep a roof over our heads, the lights on and the water on, and I might not go fully school shopping for them as I would in the past.”

Parents will only be able to do so much to even out the budget before some may still end up in debt due to the cost of the start of the school year.

“Costs for everyday goods and services have been on the rise for the past few years, which likely plays a part in the sticker shock parents are experiencing when shopping for back-to-school items. High borrowing costs may be another significant factor. Currently, interest rates are high and carrying credit card debt is expensive, and we know that at least a third of parents plan to take on high-interest debt to cover back-to-school expenses,” said Courtney Alev, consumer financial advocate for Credit Karma.  

Tobias Burns contributed.