Back to school with higher prices or not: A 12-year look at price changes for school supplies

For parents sending a child off to school this fall, it’s time to stock up on school supplies. Let’s take a look at how prices for back-to-school staples have changed over the course of a 12-year secondary school education. 

Prices for school textbooks and supplies have risen by 24.0% from the time you bought your child their first supplies in Grade 1 up to Grade 12 today. Prices for books and reading material (excluding textbooks) have risen by 25.7% over the same period.

Surprising as it may seem, parents of Grade 12 students will pay about the same—or perhaps even less—for clothing and athletic footwear this summer than they did when their child was in Grade 1.

Among back-to-school items, prices for children’s clothing (-8.5%) and footwear (-6.9%) have fallen at the fastest pace from June 2015 to June 2026. It should be noted that most students “graduate” from children to adult clothing and footwear somewhere between Grades 7 and 9.

Prices for women’s clothing fell by 0.4% from June 2015 to June 2026. Parents may also be paying slightly less for men’s clothing (-3.3%) and athletic footwear (-6.5%) this summer compared with 12 years earlier.

Some of the key ingredients that go into making a sandwich rose at a faster pace than overall inflation (+32.9%) from June 2015 to June 2026.

Prices for some cheeses have risen at a much slower pace than overall inflation from June 2015 to June 2026.

Price changes for cheese have ranged from a 9.8% increase for cheddar to a 42.5% rise for unripened or fresh cheese from June 2015 to June 2026.

Prices for bread, rolls and buns have risen by one-fifth (+20.1%) over the 12-year period, while prices for cookies and crackers have risen by just under half (+46.8%).

Prices for ham and other processed meats are rising at a much faster pace than for bread or cheese. Ham and bacon prices rose by 47.3% from June 2015 to June 2026 while prices for other processed meats, such as the lunch box staple, bologna, were up 42.9%.

The biggest price change in making a sandwich for a school lunch box was the vegetable fillings, with tomato prices up 95.4% and lettuce prices up 75.2% from June 2015 to June 2026.

For those parents looking to mark the last year of school with the gift of bling, jewellery prices rose by 79.2% from June 2015 to June 2026, while the price of a watch was up 12.0%.