The cost of school uniforms is now beyond the budgets of many families, who are increasingly reaching out for financial support, says a children's charity.
Last year, Variety - the Children's Charity spent about $285,000 to fund school uniforms for those in need. Photo: 123RF
With schools going back next week, uniform shops around the country are currently full of ashen-faced parents watching their bank balances dwindle when they hit enter on the Eftpos machine.
Variety - the Children's Charity works with benefactors to help cover the cost of back to school gear.
Listen to the story here
Chief executive Susan Glasgow said they had seen a 50 percent increase in the number of claims for school uniforms from 2020 to 2021.
"It speaks to the fact that school uniforms and back to school costs are increasingly unaffordable for most families, and so they're coming to Variety looking for additional support to be able to cover those."
The charity has also seen an increase in the average cost of claims for a school uniform year-on-year.
"Between 19 October and 20 September, the average claim for a school uniform to Variety was $145.00. But what we're seeing this year from 21 October to now, the average cost of a claim for a school uniform to Variety rose to $196.00. So that's a significant jump for most families, especially if you have multiple children."
Last year, the charity spent about $285,000 to fund school uniforms for those in need, and that is not including the many other costs facing parents with school-aged children.
"We receive claims for anything from stationary to sports opportunities, school camps. All of the things that are associated with being able to participate fully in your school," Glasgow said.
In 2021, Consumer NZ did a nationally-representative survey about the cost of living. It found that 45 percent of New Zealanders were concerned about education-related costs.
Spokesperson Gemma Rasmussen said the cost of a school uniform on top of other everyday expenses was beyond the budgets of many families.
"The cost of living in New Zealand has gone up a lot over the past five years. We've seen increasing rent, the price of food is really high and fuel.
"It's all sort of compounding and so sometimes getting these additional bills for school uniforms can make it even harder. It can just be another nail in the coffin in terms of how expensive it is to live in New Zealand."
One of the downsides of buying school uniforms was that families were not able to shop around, Rasmussen said.
"Typically, you'll be purchasing it from a school or potentially one retailer, so you really do have to accept the costs that you're given, and you don't have the option of saying no, which can be a little bit more problematic, and it just means that people are held to ransom at whatever the set price is.
"There is potentially a little bit of a power imbalance."
Costs could also vary between public and private schools, and between girls and boys uniforms, Rasmussen said.
Shopping second hand was the best option, if you could find the right sizes, she said.
However, uniform manufacturer NZ Uniforms chief executive David Bunnell argued that the cost of uniforms had hardly changed in the past 20 years.
"A typical basket for a primary school can be anything from, $70 or $80 to $200 and for high school it can range really from $200 upwards to $800 or more, depending on the number of garments that the parent wishes to buy."
Bunnell said most parents, regardless of their socio-economic background, found that school uniforms were very good value.
"If you take the cost of a typical polo shirt from our term one range for primary and intermediate school, our shorts are just 20-odd dollars.
"Those shorts are going to be worn 200 times for the year, and they're probably still going to be a pretty good condition at the end of the year and then available for resale on the second-hand market or will be handed down to a sibling . that represents pretty good value."
Variety's Susan Glasgow asked New Zealanders to support their back to school appeal, so more children could get the gear they needed.
"We have 600 children on our wait-list at the moment, looking for a sponsor for our flagship Kiwi Kid Sponsorship program, which would fund their school uniforms and their basic essential needs."