After two stressful pandemic school years, parents in Lane County are dealing with a different stress: inflation driving record high prices for back-to-school supplies.
Our news team spoke to parents and an economist at the University of Oregon about why we are seeing these record highs and how to stretch your dollars.
Inflation is at a 40-year high. As of July, consumer inflation has increased 8.5% in the last 12 months, and for parents trying to get school supplies, this has put a strain on their wallets.
"They are overwhelmed. Even I myself am overwhelmed," Deanna Hale Trujillo with the Dream Center Lane County said. "The prices have doubled in a lot of items."
Local organizations like the Dream Center Lane County and One Hope are collaborating on a free giveaway to help parents with rising costs, expecting to help about 10,000 people in the community.
"It's a bunch of churches, a lot of our friends that are doing that and so it's great to collaborate and be together like that," she said.
Let's break down some numbers to help you understand what we mean when we say record high inflation.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, school supplies on average have experienced an inflation rate of 5.69% each year.
The National Retail Federation says compared to just three years ago, back-to-school spending increased by 41%.
And according to a Deloitte poll, the average amount parents will spend this year on one child's school supplies is $661.
"Prices for those kinds of goods have increased anywhere between 10 and 20% over the last 5 years on average," said Keaton Miller, economist at the University of Oregon.
But why are we seeing these price hikes?
"We are still seeing supply chain impacts from the pandemic," he said. Other contributing factors include the ongoing war in Ukraine and a tight labor market.
"But over the last 6 months to a year, we've really had everything going the same direction, pushing prices higher and that's how you get these sorts of historic highs," he said.
Surprisingly, the high demand for these kinds of goods around this time of year is not driving up costs.
Miller said, "All of these stores are competing with each other, and even though there might be a temptation to 'Ok, this is the time when everyone is buying this. Let's try and raise the prices some.' That's going to be offset by 'Well, if I raise my prices too much, they're going to go to the next store over.'"
And how do parents cut the cost? Miller recommends shopping second-hand and creating what he called "buying clubs." He said, "Where we get a few families together and kind of pool our resources and buy in bulk. That's going to be cheaper per unit, and that's going to sort of insulate you against some of those price increases."
The Dream Center Lane County Back-to-School Free Giveaway will be from 10 am to 2 pm on August 27th.
The 4J School District will provide standard school supplies for elementary school families with COVID-related funding. Some schools may request additional specific supplies.
Middle and High schools have lists of supplies that schools request students provide.
Additionally, the district is continuing to provide free school lunch for all students for the 2022-2023 school year, even though the federal waiver providing free lunch for all schools expired on June 30.