New Yorkers Will Have To Spend an Extra $168 on Back to School This Year

If you've already been pinching your pennies because the cost of literally everything has gone up, then you know how painful the thought of back to school shopping is right now.

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It won't come as a surprise that back to school shopping is going to be more expensive this year as America continues to struggle with shipping issues and inflation. The shock, however, will come with the realization that buying everything you need for each of your children will likely come with an added cost and that cost is about $168 more than what you spent in 2019 before the pandemic.

A look at July's Consumer Price Index shows that the highest inflation rates have been seen at the grocery store, which we can all attest to. Other areas that have been impacted by inflation are clothes, school supplies, and educational books.

Back to school clothing is priced five percent higher than in 2021 and school supplies and educational books come with a price tag of two and a half percent more than what they were last year.

According to the National Retail Federation, the average family in New York will spend $860 on back to school supplies which is up $840 from 2021 and $789 in 2020.

The average shopper says that this year, they're budgeting just under $200 per student (from from 55 percent in 2021) on back to school supplies but unlike in other years, they're planning on spending less on electronics than they did in previous years.

40 percent of back to school shoppers say the whole ordeal of shopping is a massive headache and makes them feel completely stressed out. 35 percent of people say the biggest cause of stress isn't the shopping itself, but figuring out how to get what they need and stay in budget.

In early August of 2022, New York York Governor Kathy Hochul announced the distribution of $44.4 million dollars in federal pandemic funding which would aid struggling New Yorkers cover back-to-school and early life nutritional expenses.

Through the Pandemic Emergency Assistance Fund, New Yorkers on Public Assistance will receive a one-time payment of $214 for each child between the ages of 3 and 17 and $150 for any children under the age of 3 in their household.