Jaida Gahan
B2- Econ
Reuter
5/30/17
The School Years Impact on the Economy
Parents are year round money machines. From the time they find out they’re pregnant, til the time they die they will always be spending money. Majority of the money spent is spent from birth till the age of 18. Parents are constantly spending money which helps the economy. In winter they need to buy the clothes and supplies needed for warmth. In Spring and Summer kids need cooler clothes. Lastly, fall, is back to school time.
During the first couple months of school the economy is greatly impacted. In 2016 alone $75.8 Billion was spent on school supplies. This total is broken down into four groups: apparel, electronics, shoes and school supplies. Now most people would think that schools supplies would have the highest amount but this isn’t true, clothing has the highest. In 2016, $9.54 Billion was spent on clothing, in an average household parents spend $235.39 on clothes for their children. The next highest group is electronics total is $8.27 Billion, parents spend around $204.05 on electronics. The third highest group is shoes, total spent is $5.12 Billion and parents spend around $126.35. Lastly, and somewhat shocking is school supplies, total $4.37 Billion is spent and parents spend around $107.36. This is somewhat shocking but also makes sense.
Clothes, shoes and electronics all cost lots of money but lots of people buy school supplies and lots of them. While at the store I’ve seen families with carts filled to the top with school supplies. On the other hand this does make sense because when the school year comes around prices do go down and more sales are offered. When school shopping there is a substitution effect. Parents know they have to spend a lot of money on each of the groups so when it comes to certain supplies parents buy the cheaper item rather than the more expensive ones. Many people like to go shopping as soon as their children get their supply lists because there comes a time when there is a scarcity for many goods. There is a high demand for the same item so people want to get their supplies quick. If people wait too long there will be a shortage of goods re so people are forced to buy more expensive items because the cheaper ones are gone. Walmart, Target and Amazon are most impacted by the transition into the school year. More workers are needed because the stores are so chaotic which also impacts the economy because these companies have to pay their workers. Workers are need on all ends: manufacturing, shipping, in store- stocking, and customer services.
The last couple years there's been lots of budget cuts for schools. This is supposed to help the economy. When this occurs many people are laid off because schools don’t have enough money to pay for all the teachers. Classroom sizes become larger and the supplies supplied by the school are often use and supplies become scarce. WHen this happens parents have to go to the store and buy more supplies for their kids. This occurs a lot, many people have to go back and get more supplies midway through the year because things are lost or ran out of. The school year greatly impacts the economy and the people in the United States.
White, Martha C. "Back-to-School Costs Soar, Burdening the Poor." NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal News Group, 10 Aug. 2014. Web. 30 May 2017.
Kline, Daniel B. "Back-to-School Shopping Growth Suggests Improved Economy." The Motley Fool. The Motley Fool, 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 30 May 2017.
I have never thought about how the start of the school year would affect the economy, but it makes sense considering all of the supplies needed to start a new school year for a student. I'm not surprised that clothing brings in the most revenue because most clothing is expensive, and that school supplies bring in the least because things such as pencils and pens are fairly cheap if you buy in bulk. You're right about how it affects stores too, whenever I buy my supplies at Target the store is always packed and I usually shop late, so the supplies are scarce. With Amazon becoming really popular over the past few years, that'd probably be a super easy way to get everything you need for the school year at once, because the supply won't be as scarce as in store, plus it gets shipped to your house which is even easier.
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Plus, some schools do not have free lunchs for those in poverty meaning that parents will have to spend more money on lunchs and food. Due to this parents might the money to go somewhere else like bills clothing and other nessicties. Overall It's inportant that schools find a way to improve the prices of food so parents are not straining to find money for children.
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ReplyDeleteThis is a great post, you are a very smart and beautiful girl. The things you say are iconic. You go girl
ReplyDeleteIt is kind of odd the new school year sparks a sudden need to get a new wardrobe, but for those who can't afford to do that, school supplies alone is pricey. In the beginning of the year, we're given a list of things needed to use in class. For those who don't have the budget, they end up showing up to class empty handed. That's when the school comes in. For impoverished schools donations are crucial, because the children aren't required to have these items. It's just all to help them in class. So in impoverished cities, there is little to no impact in the economy. Also, Rachel made a great point, when it comes to school lunches the money doesn't stop. There are programs in schools helping to pay lunches, but they can only do so much. Ultimately, a new school year looks very different when comparing an impoverished city and a place like Pewaukee.
ReplyDeleteI'm very surprised that the average household spends more money on purchasing clothes for back to school shopping than on actual electronics and school supplies. I'd imagine that since a lot of schools utilize technology and computers for work and assignments, that more money would be put towards that.
ReplyDeleteThis is all so true. When the school year comes back around the parents pockets do hurt but the economy is going up. Everything you say is so true. When I go shopping I try to get the cheaper school supplies so I can get more clothes. This does backfire because I do find that I have to go back to the store multiple times during the year to get new supplies because I run out, lose them or they break. This also helps the economy because people always need to go back and get more supplies. There will always be a demand for supplies, theres just a higher one need in the fall.
ReplyDeleteI'm not surprised that the average household spends more money on purchasing clothes for back to school shopping, than actually school supplies. This isn't surprising because the use of electronics handed out to students in most schools doesn't cost anything to parents.
ReplyDeleteI didn't really think that school had that big of an impact on the economy. I usually just buy a couple of pencils and pens and maybe a note book or two. My total doesn't even come out to $20, but I guess there are a lot of people that buy the supplies and a lot of businesses thrive during the school year. I always thought that the summer would be better for businesses as a whole because college students and kids are making money and they want ti spend that money right away.
ReplyDeleteParents spending the least amount on school supplies out of those four groups really doesn't surprise me in all honesty. It's a once a year occurrence they need to go school shopping whereas clothes, shoes, and electronics are something money is spent on year round. Clothes and shoes get ruined or stop fitting--calling for new items of these. Electronics are constantly being upgraded and there's always that needed for the newest tech thing. School supplies is also reusable. As long as you don't totally trash your past years stuff, you can continue to use it the next year. That's probably why school supplies is the lowest. It's very odd for someone to go out and by school supplies in January--no one buys school supplies then. Thus why stores push their back to school sales around August, because it's a once a year thing that is targeted toward parents and their children.
ReplyDeleteI am very surprised by the amount combined that is spent between clothes, shoes, electronics, and school supplies. I thought electronics would have more of an average amount of money spent because how expensive they are like laptops kids need and the fancy calculators they need for class. Not only will Walmart, Target, and Amazon be impacted in a positive way but clothing stores like Kohl's and Marshall will be impacted by all the back to school shopping because they put on sales as well.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine that households spend the most on food. Everyone constantly needs to eat therefore no one will ever stop buying food. I also predict that the total dollar amount spent on school supplies will go down as technology advances because laptop will be used in every school.
ReplyDeleteI think that the kids that want to buy all of the name brand things and have the Jordan shoes are not smart. The demand is so high for the Jordan shoes and name brand clothing that the departments can charge any price they want and get people to buy it. If we can prove to people that they do not need to have all of the "in style" clothes to fit in. Kids should boycott these big brands in favor of the cheaper and start a savings account so they can save for college. Additionally, kids need to start working more and start to help their parents with all of these cost. Kids do not know about the scarcity of goods that are going on in different places of the world. Overall, kids shouldn't be so needy and spend so much on the overpriced items that department stores try to sell.
ReplyDeleteFor years students and their parents have been relating a new school year to new clothes and school supplies. I'm sure they have some supplies that are still "like new" and they have plenty of clothes that still fit, especially for high schoolers. There are also new ways to buy cheap school supplies like buying in large with stores such as Costco, and ordering online with websites such as Amazon. If people do buy in bulk they might last over several years and students would not feel the need to go out in the middle of school year to buy more. Overall, I understand how a new school year effects the economy but I also think that it is evolving through new companies.
ReplyDeleteNicely done! Your vocabulary words make your argument much stronger. I agree that back to school shopping can be very expensive, so parents must plan accordingly and try to find the best deals. However, hyperlinking your evidence and including some pictures / graphs would also help to strengthen your argument and overall credibility.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% that the "Back To School" time of the year generates many expenses. School supplies being an annual "tradition" because of the one time of the year where different teachers require different supplies. Whereas clothes, electronics, and etc. are expenses that are common no matter what time of the year it is. Therefore in order to save a few bucks, I think it would be smart to order bulks of supplies at one time knowing it would be cheaper and would last in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't aware of how high the impact that school has on the economy is. It's pretty surprising, but I can understand where it's coming from. Especially with all the clothing and supplies, it has to add up. It would be a good idea to set out a budget before going into the store, or maybe shop online so you know exactly what your total is before checking out.
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