The lazy days of summer are coming to end. I’ve had a wonderful summer full of adventures with my three daughters – we spent a month in Yellowknife – and we have returned to our home in Lloydminster, Alta. Our school start date is Sept. 4 and this year I’m preparing for a child in kindergarten, Grade 2, and Grade 4.
Over the years I’ve developed a four-stage plan of attack scheduled over the last two weeks of August. It can be overwhelming for my wallet and my nerves to do everything the week beforehand. I am sharing my back-to-school strategy and the associated costs so that I can create awareness of the emotional and financial investment that back-to-school requires on behalf of parents.
Above all, I recognize that I am in a privileged position with the benefit of support systems. I can afford to purchase new school supplies, clothes and extracurricular activities for my daughters. I’m disclosing my costs with the aim of evoking change within our social and education systems by addressing the first barrier for parents when it comes to education, back-to-school expenses.
Stage 1: Register children for September programs.
The registration fee for my three daughters in Girl Guides, Brownies, and Sparks was $364. The registration fee for fall/winter weekly half-hour piano instruction was $560. My oldest two daughters musical theater program was $950. Fall swimming lessons for the youngest two was $84. Grand total of September programs with payment required upfront $1, 958.
Stage 2: Purchase clothes and shoes.
I released my three excited fashionistas’ on the Children’s Place clothing store. I allowed them to each pick two pairs of pants and two shirts each for a total of $154. Their shoes purchased at Sketchers were a total of $180. Grand total of clothes and shoes $334.
Stage 3: Purchase school supplies and pay school fees.
Most schools now send out the option of purchasing school supplies through them with an online payment method. My friend with four children has done this option multiple times and has been disappointed with the quality of the school supplies. I decided to do the old-fashioned let them pick their own supplies. After an hour of shopping, and questioning my sanity we spent a total of $250. In addition, I owe $115 for school fees including project/activities and agendas. Grand total of school supplies and fees $365.
Stage 4: Haircuts and colors.
Fortunately, I am a licensed hairstylist so I cut and color my daughters’ hair at cost. The trend for kids right now is rainbow hair that usually requires two different sets of foils: one to lighten the hair, and one to apply the vibrant colors such as purple, pink, and blue. Haircuts for children usually range from $15 to $30. Multiple sets of foils with three colors range from $60 to $150. If I were to bring my three girls to a salon for a haircut and rainbow color I would be charged approximately $300.
Drumroll for the total cost of back-to-school for my three daughters – $2, 957.
I have not charged for my emotional labor including organizing their schedules or going to the store to watch them model cat t-shirts. Furthermore, I have more spare time than most parents to enact this back-to-school strategy because I do not work a full-time job (other than the tremendous effort it requires to parent my children).
Like the majority of parents my wallet and stress levels have an inverse relationship. The financial stress of education begins in August before the school year has begun.
There are several members of my Women Warriors group fundraising to purchase supplies and clothes for their children. I have compassion for their struggle – single income households with three to five children – that do not have the extra cash for these expenses.
I found a solution to this financial burden, and a motivator for consistent school attendance in the novel, How to Spend $75 Billion to Make the World a Better Place by Bjorn Lomborg. The author explains how programs - known as conditional cash transfers - pay parents for their child’s school attendance.
The logistics of payments could be worked out to be a monthly payment or my suggestion of a lump sum payment in August that allows parents to set their children up for a successful school year.
The intergenerational cycle of poverty is broken, Lumborg states, “because the programs increase the intensity of child investment in school as well as child time in school.”
“In addition to positive schooling outcomes, these transfers have lowered the poverty rate, improved the nutritional status of poor households, and have increased the proportion of children receiving vaccinations and other health services.”
For the naysayers yelling, “Socialist idealist!” at me, I yell back, “Pay now or pay later!”
Pay now for children to get their education or pay later when they become a burden on the social systems because they are uneducated.