Kojo Quartey: Wants, needs and back-to-school shopping
The Masai tribe of Kenya and Tanzania in Africa has a traditional, standard greeting when they meet each other. It is “Kasserian ingera?”, which translates directly to, “And how are the children?” And the response is, “Sapati ingera," “All the children are well.” Of course, unless they are not. This is the standard traditional greeting similar to “How are you?” or “Good morning?” This is the greeting whether one has children or not.
As children are an essential part of our existence and it’s time to shop for them to go back to school, some of us are feeling the economic pressure. The fact that we cherish our children and will buy almost anything for them does not mean we have to. What should we buy? How much should we buy? In all of this, unfortunately, many are not even thinking about how much we can afford. Are some of the purchases even necessary? Or are we lured by the ads and gimmicks? Do we really need to buy junior a new school bag and a bunch of new clothes or will the ones from last year (assuming she/he can still fit them) do? If you do not have young children, then you are off the hook; if you do, then you are on the hook. But even if you do not, please consider donating school supplies through one of the many charities in Monroe County. Not all children are as fortunate as my 4-year-old, Omari, and I recognize that.
Omari, is ready to go back to school, and it’s time to go shopping. For a child that age, he has outgrown some of his clothes, but do I need to exercise frugality in my purchases and cut back just a little? Well, with the impact of inflation, coming out of a pandemic, high interest rates and uncertainty about the economy, I would not be the only one cutting back; many others are also. Indeed, when it comes to our children, for those of us who can afford it, it is difficult to differentiate between their wants and needs. As my Omari says when we go shopping and he sees something he wants, “Dada, I want that!” My response, “Why do you want it?” His answer, “Because I need it!” Fortunately, I know the difference between wants and needs, so depending on the price, sometimes he gets the item, sometimes he does not.
The consulting firm Deloitte surveyed 1,212 parents of school-aged children. The cost of school supplies is up 24% over the last two years. Even as inflation has declined, prices are still higher than usual. Back-to-school spending will be about $31.2 billion this year, a 9% decline from last year. Deloitte found one-in-three households were in a worse financial situation than last year, with more than 50% saying they expect the economy to weaken through the end of the year. The reason for the decline is inflation, causing Americans across all income levels to allocate their dollars toward utmost necessities and skip out on non-essential purchases.
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Parents surveyed expect to spend 10% less per child on items such as devices, clothes and supplies. These days many parents are expecting to buy new items for their children, needed or not. Why buy a new book bag, if your child does not need it? A child does not need new clothes if the old ones still fit. Some of us are fortunate enough to be able to buy almost anything for our kids; not everyone is that lucky. Deloitte’s survey shows that on average, parents expect to spend $597 on each child, compared to $661 in 2022.
As we go back-to-school shopping, I know that in spite of economic fears and inflation concerns, our children are our most important priority, but be careful in differentiating between their wants and needs, because as far as they are concerned, they need everything. Minimize their wants and think about the needs of those children less fortunate than your own, and consider donating.
Kojo Quartey is president of Monroe County Community College and an economist. He may be reached at kquartey@monroeccc.edu.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Kojo Quartey: Wants, needs and back-to-school shopping
