Education stakeholders in Australia have warned a Senate Committee looking into the effect of high inflation on consumers, that schoolchildren may go without lunches as parents struggle to cope with increased financial burdens brought on by the cost of living crisis.
Inflationary pressures have put a squeeze on household budgets, and as children return to school post-Christmas, more money is needed to furnish them with essential learning tools like iPads, laptops, and textbooks.
A recent survey of over 2,200 families by Australian children’s charity The Smith Family, which helps young people living at a disadvantage, makes grim reading after 88.3 percent of respondents said they have concerns about whether they can afford to pay for digital devices.Nearly half of those surveyed felt concerned over being able to afford new uniforms and school shoes, while over 40 percent said they may have to curtail extra-curricular activities like sports or drama classes or leave their child behind when others go on school trips that require parents to foot the bill.
The Futurity Investment Group’s Investment in Education Index (2024) report was released on Jan. 17, and detailed that parents in state schools were spending an average amount of $92,710 to educate one child through until year 12.
The cost to educate in Catholic schools was exponentially higher, and parents with children in private schooling are expected to pay over $250,000 over the average 13 years of study.
Sydney tops the list in 2024, with families paying an average of $377, 993—an increase of over $20,000 from figures determined in 2022.
Data from the National Australia Bank (NAB) suggests the lender expects to extend no-interest education loans in figures not seen since the pandemic.
Applications for the loans, which are used to pay for school essentials have skyrocketed 130 percent over the past four years.
Donagh Freestun, chair of Parents and Citizens Queensland, told the Senate Committee that parents can no longer cope:
“It used to be a uniform and a stationery pack — now it’s a computer, it’s an iPad, it’s all of these other things,” Ms. Freestun said.
“You can find that in high school if a child, for example, does an outdoor recreation program, it’s an additional $300.”
Queensland Association of State School Principals President Patrick Murphy said student attrition will undoubtedly increase with the extra costs:
“They’re the things that parents can’t afford, and they’re the ones that get students to start dropping out,” he said.
“We get to such a point where it actually becomes not viable for a school to offer those because we’re seeing 60 percent of kids not going on camps and excursions.”
With inflation under the microscope, the Liberal-National Coalition is seeking answers via the Committee probe on the government’s stage 3 tax cuts and how they will affect middle Australians feeling the pinch.
While inflation has fallen in Australia from a peak of 7.2 percent in December 2022, and is predicted to fall to 3.5 percent by the fourth quarter of this year, interest rates are yet to drop due to predicted slow economic growth.
The Smith Family says over 1.2 million Australian children and young people are living with “disadvantage” and is launching its Back to School Appeal which calls for people to sponsor a child through the school year.
The charity is seeking 6,700 new sponsors for its Learning for Life education support program.
