The cost-of-living crisis is having dire effects on school-age children, as parents struggle to afford uniforms, lunches and excursions, a report by the Smith Family has found.
Two-thirds of the almost 2,000 parents and carers supported by the organisation who were surveyed for the report had found it harder to afford what their children needed for school this year. Half the parents surveyed said the main reason was the increasing cost of petrol, groceries and rent.
Zahra, a mother of four and welfare recipient who migrated to Bankstown in Sydney from Lebanon last year, said the rising cost of bills and food, in addition to school costs, had caused her a lot of stress.
“You’ve got school uniform, the cost of lunches, excursions and stuff, fun activities going on at school … I was scared I wouldn’t be able to afford these things for my kids,” she said.
The Smith Family chief executive, Doug Taylor, said the additional challenge the cost of living had placed on children already experiencing disadvantage increased the risk of them falling behind or disengaging from school.
“One student told me about the impact of not having the same uniform as their peers – a different shade if it was older – or different shoes, and how that makes you feel that you can’t afford other things that students have,” he said. “Education is a confidence game, and so lack of confidence and high levels of stress can lead to disengagement, like kids not attending school.
“Another students told me it’s like you’re working twice as hard as your peers to get half the results.”
The Council of Single Mothers and their Children chief executive, Jenny Davidson, said similar concerns raised in the report have been expressed by her clients. She said one recently came to her in distress about the cost of her child starting primary school next year.
Teachers say they are increasingly concerned at how the cost of living is affecting their students.
One teacher at a high school on the NSW south coast said skyrocketing rent in the region was placing huge stress on his students, many of whom were still recovering from the disruption caused by the pandemic. He said some of his students had been sleeping in tents with their families.
Another teacher, who works at a primary school in Melbourne, said she feared the rising cost of living was widening the education gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students.
“Our more advantaged kids often have external help like nannies and tutors to help with education progression outside of school,” she said. “Whereas parents who are struggling financially not only can’t afford the same help, but they are also time poor, so can’t always do things like help their kids with their readings at home.”
The price of food is also taking a toll. Staff at Doveton College in Melbourne’s south-east told Guardian Australia that in about three months the number of students attending the school breakfast program had risen from 45 to 150.
In the Smith Family survey, almost half of the respondents said school had been hard or very hard for their children this year.
As well as facing financial challenges, some said children were struggling with social issues, academically or with motivation, and had found it hard to catch up after the disruption of the pandemic.
A third of parents and carers said students did not have everything they needed for school and just under a third said the cost of school items had increased.
The Smith Family is now supporting the cost of Zahra’s children’s education under its Learning for Life program.
“One of my children is starting kindergarten in January and I can be happy about the fact that I get to be excited about his first day rather than being like, ‘oh my god, how am I going to afford uniforms for three kids now’,” Zahra said.
“I can be happy for him and live in the moment.”
