US Parents Bear the Brunt of Inflation Costs With Back-To-School Supplies
Households across the country are gearing up for the upcoming school year by spending more than usual on back-to-school supplies. And while inflation has caused many consumers to become more frugal, parents are bearing the brunt of high costs on necessary items for their children.
According to a recent Morning Consult survey, only 36% of the 2,178 parents surveyed in the US, feel financially prepared to spend on the often high-priced items their children will need during the back-to-school season. That's a decrease from 52% last year, when many parents could rely on stimulus checks and early child tax credit payments to help ease the financial burden brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Parents will likely cut back on other spending to be able to buy back-to-school supplies.
The 9.1% rise in the Consumer Price Index has many parents worried about whether they can afford to purchase school supplies for the 2022-2023 school year. Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, told Yahoo Finance that households are expected to modify their spending by cutting back on nonessential items to be able to buy the items kids need for school.
"In the current environment, we have persistent, unacceptably high inflation across virtually all categories but certainly, especially, in energy and food prices," Shay explained. "So we're seeing households prioritize things like — in this case, back-to-school [shopping] and treating that as an essential category — and therefore shifting some of their spending out of other discretionary categories to make sure they can take care of the things that are most in demand."
How exactly does inflation affect parents and their financial needs during back-to-school shopping?
Each year, parents are given a list of school items to buy to help their children be prepared for the start of the school year. But soaring inflation has caused back-to-school supplies to become more expensive than in past years. Morning Consult also found that parents are expected to spend $661 per child on school supplies this year, which is an 8% increase from 2021.
According to the National Retail Federation, a single household will spend $864 on back-to-school items, including electronics, supplies, clothing, and shoes. The company's findings also stated that back-to-college spending increased to $1,199 this year compared to the lowest at $970 in 2017.
"Obviously, different families make different choices and prioritize different sorts of things," Shay said. "But back-to-class spending as a category, broadly speaking, is over $100 billion between back-to-school — which we define as elementary, high school — and back-to-college, which is about two-thirds of that spend."
What are some ways parents can save money?
Parents are finding ways to stretch their money by shopping at local retail stores or purchasing items online with companies that offer consumer deals. For example, USA Today confirmed that parents leaped at the opportunity to buy back-to-school supplies during Amazon's Prime Day 2022 in July.
“With Prime Day moved to July from June, it’s closer to back-to-school so consumers took advantage of that,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst for digital insights at Adobe. “We saw an uptick in boys and girls apparel."
The Street reported that many retail competitors, like Walmart and Target, price match back-to-school items to increase sales as parents scramble for bargains. Though both companies are usually the go-to spots for school supplies, parents are saving money by shopping at dollar stores.
According to Placer.ai, Family Dollar, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and Five Below are considered reasonable retail stores for parents looking to stretch their coins on essential school supplies.
In July, some states held back-to-school sales tax holidays to help families who are struggling to purchase school items for their children. The Federation of Tax Administration’s website provides information for parents in each state to determine how long it will last so they can plan accordingly.
Will parents have to cut corners on school supplies?
The NRF survey also mentioned that some parents are expected to be in debt as they grapple with covering back-to-school expenses. In addition to the rise in the cost of living and food prices, parents may also have to cut corners and buy less expensive items for their children.
"I think we'll see people trade out of higher-priced goods into goods that are priced to fit their budgets," Shay said. "And we'll see households trade out of other discretionary items to get into the things that they determine to be essential for this particular back-to-school season, whatever that may be. I think that includes everything from apparel and footwear, and accessories to electronics [and] furniture really run the gamut."
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