Financial pressures are impacting back to school supplies shopping

Families – already grappling with tight budgets – are navigating back to school shopping in a whole new way. 

With the cost of school supplies increasing, up 24.5% over the past four years according to the labor department, parents are already weighing the cost of certain necessities and their priorities in preparation for the new year, according to Deloitte's 2024 back to school survey.

Parents are projected to spend $31.3 billion collectively on back-to-school shopping, according to the survey. When broken down, parents will be doling out a hefty $586 per K-12 student. That's up nearly $60 from 2020, and is only exacerbating the strain on families living on a tight budget. 

BACK-TO-SCHOOL SHOPPING TO COST AMERICANS MORE THAN EVER AMID INFLATION SPIKE

According to Deloitte's report, parents are projected to spend $20 billion on clothing and school supplies alone. Both categories are slated to account for most of the back-to-school spending. 

Spending on technology, meanwhile, is projected to drop 11%., which Deloitte says could be dey to the fact that many parents invested in tech products during the pandemic and may not be in the market for replacements or upgrades. 

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But spending on products, such as personal hygiene items and educational furniture, is also projected to climb 22% year-over-year, according to Deloitte. 

Andrea Toch, a parent of two children in Arizona, told FOX Business, that not only have expenses for back-to-school supplies "seem to have skyrocketed" but "the supply lists from schools feel like they’re getting longer each year." 

The cost for supplies this year alone is amounting to over $220 for her two sons, one of whom is entering third grade and the other fifth grade, Toch said. 

"That doesn’t even include backpacks, lunch boxes, clothes, shoes, etc. which adds several more hundred dollars to our anticipated back-to-school budget," she said, adding that some items on the list, like "Ziploc bags and baby wipes, could be removed to help reduce costs on families." 

While Toch argued that she doesn't ever want to see a teacher foot the bill for these supplies, given that they "are so underpaid for their important work as it is." 

Dr. RJ Webber, superintendent of the Northville Public School district in Northville, Northville, Michigan, believes parents shouldn't be paying for supplies at all. 

"Public schools should be paying for every supply that is truly necessary for a student," Webber told FOX Business. "No parent should have to purchase anything that their kid would need in school, period.

Webber argued that if schools can't, then we should question whether schools are being funded adequately.

In order to foot the bill, parents are prioritizing value over brand and retailer loyalty and starting earlier than ever before. In fact, the data shows that the majority, 66%, of spending is projected to occur by the end of July, which is up from 59% last year, according to the survey. 

A sperate survery from the National Retail Federation (NRF), shows that a majority, 85%, of shoppers plan to use Prime Day and other retailer sales this month to buy notebooks, pencils and other classroom staples.

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About 62% will shop at a more affordable retailer, and about half say they will shop for private labels over name brands, according to Deloitte.