Some parents go into debt to pay for kids’ meals
Switching from in-person to online schooling has been hard for many families – and on their budgets.
About one-quarter of parents say they’ve gone into debt to pay for their kids’ at-home school expenses, and many blame the cost of their kids’ breakfasts and lunches when they switched to learning remotely from home. A survey from Credit Karma examines how this school year could affect household finances. The reasons? Higher grocery prices and the sudden switch to at-home schooling in March.
Before the pandemic, about 30 million children were fed daily by their schools’ breakfast and lunch programs, according to the School Nutrition Association. Those meals are a good deal for parents. The majority of children receive free or reduced-cost lunches, and the regular price is about $2.50 a meal for elementary-age kids. When the pandemic shut down in-person schooling in March, millions of parents found themselves on the hook for providing those meals at home. About a quarter of parents who have taken on debt from athome education costs blame the expense of breakfast and lunch for their kids, Credit Karma found.
“School lunch was a lot cheaper to pay for every day versus making lunch at home,” says Colleen Mccreary, chief people officer at Credit Karma, whose son started his 2020-21 school year in online classes. “It’s all-day grazing, depending on the age of a child.”
Even though school districts provided free meals to families through pickup locations during the pandemic, a majority of districts witnessed a drop of 50% or more in the number of meals they served, says Diane Pratt-heavner, director of media relations for the School Nutrition Association. That could be due to conflicts with work schedules for parents, who might be unable to make it to the pickup locations, or concern about safety, given COVID-19 infection rates in some communities.
Grocery prices have crept up, raising costs on such things as eggs and peanut butter. About one-quarter of students pay the full price of $2.50 for an elementary school lunch; the remainder pay reduced fees or qualify for free lunches. Families with two children spent 10% more on weekly groceries at the end of July compared with the end of April, according to the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse survey.