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Forty-four percent of parents plan to indulge debt To cover school supplies – an increase of 10 percentage points compared to 2024 – a new survey by Intuit Credit Karma.
Parents have cited concerns about new prices As the main sources of financial pressure before the new academic year, marking a two -digit increase in indebted households compared to 2024.
Why it matters
Shopping at the start of the school year is traditionally a significant annual expenditure, but this year’s costs have become heavier for us parents.
The increase occurs in the midst of increased inflation and an increase in imminent prices, which contributed to high price increases for the essential elements of the school and prompted families to modify spending habits and to reduce necessities.
The trend reflects deeper economic challenges because families are struggling with higher life costs, stagnant wages and policy changes. This also points out that inflation and pricing policies can have a direct impact on American households, especially those who have children at school.
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What to know
This year, 39% of the parents interviewed of Intuits Credit Karma with school -aged children said that they could not afford to return to school – an increase of 31% the previous year.
Other surveys confirm the cost pressure, a report by Bankrate noting that around 20% of parents feel budgetary pressure from school purchases.
Key school supplies, including backpacks, are much more expensive this year, parents attributing price increases to inflation and the president Donald TrumpNew prices.
“The prices on imports have increased the cost of the essential elements of the start of the school year such as bags of books, clothes and supplies”, Kevin Thompson, CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9ings Podcast, says Nowsweek. “While clothing prices are slightly decreasing – about 0.5% in the past 12 months, it is completely offset by the rise in prices in other categories.”
Although the full impact of prices has not yet been felt, the concerns remain that prices could increase more after the deadline of August 1, when prices up to 50% reach several countries.
Experts from the retail industry have confirmed that families reacted by shopping earlier than in previous years, looking for discounts and alternative brands to manage costs.
To manage back -to -school expenses, parents said they used various savings strategies in the Karma Credit Credit survey: 73% are comparison purchases, 69% buy in reduced stores, 44% count on purchase now, pay subsequent services and 41% choose hands.
More than half of the parents (54%) sacrifice necessities such as grocery store to ensure that their children needed school supplies. In addition, 61% use back to school sales to buy vacation gifts simultaneously.
More than half of the parents, especially those who have several children, said that back -to -school purchases are a major source of anxiety. The high costs of life encourage parents not only to take debt, but also to give up activities after school, with 45% unable to afford parascolary programs this year, forcing some to consider reducing working hours or leaving jobs.
What people say
Alex Benee, instructor of financial literacy for the University of Tennessee in Martin, said Nowsweek:: “It’s incredibly worrying. The general credit card debt has experienced new heights in the years that followed the pandemic, because inflationary pressures and the growth of stagnant wages have led many Americans to turn to consumer debt to fill the gaps.
“As a general rule, for the back -to -school season, this is not as much a problem, because the retail trade manages aggressive sales and some states offer purchases in tax franchise on rear items to help parents prepare their children for the coming year. The fact that there is an increase in the share of the use of the debt testifies to the financial end that many consumers are at this time.”
Kevin Thompson, CEO of 9i Capital Group and the host of the 9ings Podcast, says Nowsweek:: “This increase in the cost of goods has not been good for the average family. When you cannot get out of a grocery store without a receipt showing three figures before decimal, this is a real problem. Of course, we see a certain disinflation in categories like meat and other staples, but prices do not lower.”
Drew Powers, the founder of Powers Financial Group, based in Illinois, said Nowsweek:: “Inflation has hardly struck American families, and back -to -school purchases are no longer expensive. Electronics and powerful calculators and pocket computers, items that were formerly luxurious, are now necessary for technology. But we also have a problem of expenses. Parents do not want their children without, so they succumb to purchases of modes in addition to the necessities.”
What happens next
Consumers are preparing to increase the potential prices if Trump’s interrupted prices take full effect on August 1.
“My advice to parents struggling with the way of following the demanding school lists and social media methods is to start with the necessities, then switch to fashion bought one at a time,” said Powers. “Does your child need another bottle of water, a backpack, a zipper traction and a complete wardrobe at the same time? No. buy slowly as your budget allows.”
Detail analysts provide additional increases in school offer costs should take place, the intensification of families on families.
“In the long term, this will continue to tear households with lower and average income,” said Thompson, “and when superior and higher income families are really starting to feel it, it may already be too late.”
