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A Tauranga mum has been saving for what she calls the “uniform mortgage” since the end of last year - but it still might not be enough to cover the estimated $2000 cost of buying uniforms, stationery and devices for her three school-aged children.

It comes as the rising cost of living continues to hit family finances, with Stats NZ’s latest figures showing the consumer price index increased 7.2 per cent in the 12 months to December 2022 and food prices were 11.3 per cent higher than a year earlier.

Social service organisations are supporting families struggling to afford back-to-school necessities, with one Western Bay charity paying more than $8000 for children’s school uniforms this month and another providing 80 children in transitional housing with stationery-filled backpacks.

Tauranga mum Lajanne Smith expected to spend around $2000 on uniforms, stationery and devices for her three school-aged children this year.

She started putting money aside weekly at the end of 2022 for the “hefty bill” but despite her efforts, her budget is still stretched.

Smith searched online for second-hand uniforms but could not find any in the right size, so she had to buy new ones.

Two of her children needed Chromebooks - which cost upwards of $300 - and her eldest child’s uniform cost about $550 all up. Her two younger children also needed new uniforms, she said.

“I call it the uniform mortgage.”

Tauranga mum Lajanne Smith. Photo / Supplied

The family would also have to pay for camps and trips, along with school fees throughout the year.

“I am lucky in the sense that my husband and I both work. I have had to preplan our budget, whereas some other families just wouldn’t have that kind of money lying around.”

She believed there needed to be “more support for low-income parents”, saying schools could offer plans so uniforms could be paid off in instalments.

Another Tauranga mum of four, who the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend agreed not to name, said she was struggling to afford uniforms for her children this year.

The woman, who worked two jobs, said she had two children starting new schools and another had grown out of last year’s uniform.

“I always plan ahead and make sure to have pūtea [money] for when school starts.”

She said she sought help from Work and Income and St Vincent de Paul but earned above the threshold to qualify for financial support.

“I haven’t even started on the stationery as yet — that can wait.”

To ease pressure on families doing it tough, Te Tuinga Whānau Support Services was providing the 80 children staying in the organisation’s transitional housing with school bags including a lunchbox, drink bottle, stationery, picture book and other items.

Executive director Tommy Wilson said roughly $5000 had been spent on the back-to-school items, which had been funded by Tauranga property development company Carrus Corporation Limited.

“[In] the 180 families we look after, we have about 80 primary school children. We want them to go to school happy, fed and excited about learning — because we all know the answer to all of these challenges is education.”

Te Tuinga Whānau staff Te Wairere Te Moana and Waiwhakaata Tangitu packing the school bags. Photo / Mead Norton

St Vincent de Paul Western Bay of Plenty area manager Lorna Edlin said the charity spent “thousands of dollars a month” buying school uniforms for families who could not afford them.

This month she had already received 15 requests to buy uniforms for families in the area — some of whom had multiple children — which would add up to more than $8000. They would spend about $2500 on uniforms for three siblings who attended different schools, she said.

The majority of the families were referred through other agencies and schools, she said.

Edlin said uniforms were a “huge expense” and unaffordable for some parents.

The charity spent $45,000 on school uniforms between July 2021 and June 2022. She was concerned this figure would increase this year as more families came under financial strain.

St Vincent de Paul Western Bay of Plenty area manager Lorna Edlin. Photo / Mead Norton

Otūmoetai College principal Russell Gordon said the start of the school year was “always a real hit to family finances”.

He anticipated it could be even harder this year with rising living costs, but said the school would “act accordingly” and support families who could not afford uniforms and stationery. He urged struggling parents to contact the school.

“My plea would be if parents, family, or whānau have any financial concerns and feel embarrassed about letting the school know — don’t. We don’t judge and recognise what we are going through in that the economy is really hurting some people.”

He said uniform costs were kept to a minimum for new students moving from Ōtūmoetai Intermediate.

They could use the same skirts, shorts and shoes from intermediate, meaning some new students would only need to purchase a new polo shirt and gear for physical education.

Second-hand uniforms at a “significantly cheaper” price were also available and there was a stock of new uniforms for those who could not afford them, he said.

Bay Financial Mentors manager Shirley McCombe. Photo / Supplied

Bay Financial Mentors general manager Shirley McCombe said the service was seeing “higher levels of engagement” than normal for this time of year.

“We know that people who were already struggling before Christmas, now have the cost of Christmas, holidays and back-to-school costs. It is always a tough time for families.”

McCombe said her “big concern” was how families had managed expenses during this time, with many families using buy-now-pay-later schemes to purchase anything from gifts and alcohol to food delivery.

These payments would all become due over the next few weeks, which she said could leave families unable to pay for food and rent.

Preparation was the key to managing back-to-school costs and planning for the expenses before they occurred, she said. The service could help by arranging food parcels to “free up some money to redirect toward school costs”.

Here to Help U connector Sarah Baldock said the service helped 746 households between December 18 and January 16. This was almost three and a half times the 214 in that period a year ago.

The service connects people in Tauranga and the Western Bay with free social and wellbeing support.

Baldock said the “huge increase in demand” for food, budgeting and mental health support was a result of the cost of living crisis and more people infected with Covid having to self-isolate.