(NewsNation) — Whether you’re buying backpacks for your first-grader or paying college tuition, you’ll experience back-to-school sticker shock.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates school essentials have risen 8-18 percent over the last year This includes the food you pack in your child’s lunch, clothes and tuition, based on research conducted by the finance website The Balance.
“If you’ve got kids in high school or younger, just sending them to school and making them lunch is going to actually cost 18% more,” said Kristin Myers, editor-in-chief of The Balance. “Lunchmeat is 18% more expensive than last year. But even items like sporting equipment is going to cost you about 8% In addition to some of those musical instruments, so even the hobbies are going to get a lot more expensive.”
Other school essentials that have gone up in cost since last year are kids’ uniforms and haircuts.
