Business
School costs a ‘real struggle’ for parents in Wales
Bethan LewisFamily and education correspondent, BBC Wales News
A mum says she starts to dread the new school year from Christmas because of the cost of uniform and other kits her children will need in September.
Vicky Williams, from Caerphilly, said she gets “anxious” her children will not have everything they need and has to start budgeting months in advance.
It is estimated the minimum cost of sending a child to secondary school has reached almost £2,300 a year, up £600 since 2022, with the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) saying lower and middle-income families face “a real struggle”.
The Welsh government said it was doing everything it could to support families.
Ms Williams starts budgeting at the start of the year for the items her nine and 14-year-old will need.
She said: “I dread it after Christmas – I know if I don’t plan or budget I am going to be struggling August, September time.
“I’ll be getting anxious that my children aren’t going to school with the proper equipment so I’ve got to plan well in advance in order to prepare and be able to afford to buy their uniforms and everything else they need.”
She said while her daughter’s primary school uniform does not require logos, her 14-year-old son needs a separate PE kit, rugby kit and football kit.
Trips are another source of stress and even though schools help parents with payment plans, Ms Williams said sometimes there was not enough notice of upcoming expenses.
“You want your children to get involved in everything, want to go out for trips with their friends, go on a bus and have the experience and everything.
“But then when the cost of most trips are so high and it’s not doable for some, then you feel guilty then as a parent that your child is missing out.”
The part-time supermarket delivery driver also has a two-year-old and said she was already anticipating “that constant stress and anxiety on my mind that I’ll have three children in school” in two years’ time.
On the Lansbury Park estate, Caerphilly Uniform Exchange sells pre-loved and donated uniform for a minimal cost or items can be swapped for free.
Director Lisa Watkins said about 120 families a month use the Caerphilly shop.
They have other hubs in the borough, an online shop and give free bundles for children referred by schools and social services.
“Some schools have changed their uniform to make things more generic and accessible, but more work could be done definitely”, she said.
“I think that we should be treating school uniform more like workwear. It doesn’t matter if it’s got a hole or a bit of paint on it, you know, that’s kind of what it’s for.”
As well as uniform, the shop also supplies other costumes and outfits.
“Prom is a huge cost to parents at the moment. Things like World Book Day, Children in Need, Christmas Nativity, Christmas jumper days,” Ms Watkins said.
“As time progresses, we find all of these different celebrations and things to take part in but I think there’s little thought on how much it actually burdens parents financially.”
She added parents faced “absolutely huge” financial pressures, and did not want to have “the only child that isn’t going to prom, or hasn’t got the fancy dress outfit, or the new football boots.”
A report published by the CPAG in May estimated the minimum cost of education is more than £1,000 for primary school children and almost £2,300 for secondary school children, a rise of 30% on three years ago.
It said the cost of food for the school day and technology for learning were the main sources of increases for secondary school children.
“This is a really significant amount of money for families,” said Ellie Harwood, senior education policy officer for CPAG.
“It can be a real struggle for households on low and middle incomes to meet the cost and obviously the more children you have the greater the cost”.
Ms Harwood said research had suggested uniform costs had “flat-lined”, which she hoped was a “reflection in changes of school policy”.
At primary level in Wales, universal free school meals “saves families around £500 a year per child”, Ms Harwood said, but a strict means test still applied for secondary age children.
She said access to Welsh government support with the costs of school should be expanded .
“There are a lot of households living in poverty in Wales who cannot currently access free school meals or the school essentials grant,” she said.
“They can’t get help with the cost of school trips.
“We know there’s about 25,000 secondary aged learners who are living in poverty who don’t qualify for support with these grants and with free school meals.”
The Welsh government said: “We are doing everything we can to support families in Wales”.
“We continue to monitor the potential impact of inflation on the number of learners eligible for a free school meal and the School Essentials Grant.”
It said it recognised the “financial burden” of school uniform.
“Our statutory guidance on school uniform policy says that affordability should be a priority, and branded items should not be compulsory.
“We are currently reviewing the impact of the changes to the guidance”.
Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed lower on Wednesday as investors stayed cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision due later in the day.
The Sensex fell 275.01 points, or 0.32 per cent, to finish at 84,391.27. The Nifty also slipped 81.65 points, or 0.32 per cent, to settle at 25,758.
“Structurally, Nifty continues to face strong supply in the 25,940–26,050 zone, keeping the broader setup range-bound to mildly bullish,” market watchers said.
“A decisive breakout above 26,000 remains essential to revive upside momentum. On the downside, a sustained break below 25,700 could expose the index to 25,600–25,500, with volatility expected to intensify near these support clusters,” they added.
Bank Nifty also ended marginally lower — indicating a pause in the prevailing uptrend rather than a trend reversal.
The index opened near 59,280, moved up to 59,440, but later slipped to an intra-day low of 58,850 before closing around 58,990, down nearly 0.4 per cent.
Among the Sensex stocks, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma and ITC were the top performers. On the other hand, Eternal, Trent and Bharti Airtel dragged the index down with notable losses.
The mood was weak in the broader market as well. The Nifty MidCap 100 index declined 1.12 per cent, while the Nifty SmallCap 100 index shed 0.90 per cent by the close.
Sector-wise, consumer durables stocks saw the sharpest fall, with the Nifty Consumer Durables index tumbling 1.72 per cent.
IT and PSU bank shares also slipped, down 0.89 per cent and 0.70 per cent, respectively.
In contrast, Nifty Metal and Nifty Media indices ended the day on a positive note, emerging as the top sectoral gainers.
“Focus now shifts to the upcoming US Fed meeting, where a 25-bps rate cut is widely expected,” experts stated.
“However, internal divisions and mixed economic indicators may temper expectations for further rate cuts in 2026,” they added.
The price of silver has hit a record high ahead of an expected US Federal Reserve interest rate cut and as demand from the technology industry for the precious metal remains high.
Silver crossed $60 (£45.10) an ounce on the spot market, where the precious metal is bought and sold for immediate delivery, for the first time on Tuesday.
Gold, which hit record highs earlier this year as concerns grew about the impact of US tariffs and the global economic outlook, also made gains this week.
Investors tend to move money into precious metals like gold and silver as interest rates come down and the US dollar weakens.
The US central bank is widely expected to cut its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday.
When interest rates are cut, traders typically buy assets like silver because the benefits of keeping cash in the bank or buying short-term bonds falls, said Yeow Hee Chua from the Nanyang Technological University.
“That naturally shifts demand toward assets viewed as stores of value, including silver,” he said.
The move into so-called “safe-haven” assets was also a key reason for gold hitting new record highs in recent months, as it crossed $4,000 an ounce for the first time.
Silver’s rally could also be seen a “spillover effect” from the jump in the value of gold as investors look for cheaper alternatives, said OCBC bank analyst Christopher Wong.
Gold has gained more than 50% this year, partly due to major purchases by central banks. The price of platinum and palladium have also climbed this year.
Experts say the value of silver was also pushed up as strong demand from the technology industry outstripped supplies.
That has helped more than double the value of silver this year as it outperformed other precious metals, including gold.
“Silver is not only an investment asset but also a physical resource,” and more manufacturers are finding a need for the material, said Kosmas Marinakis from the Singapore Management University.
The precious metal, which conducts electricity better than gold or copper, is used to produce goods like electric vehicles (EVs) and solar panels.
Experts predict that rising sales of EVs will further push up demand for silver, while advanced batteries for the cars will require even more of the metal.
But it is difficult to quickly increase silver supplies as the majority of global output is a by-product from mines that mainly extract other metals like lead, copper or gold.
The price of silver is also being boosted by concerns that the US may impose tariffs on it as part of President Donald Trump’s trade policies.
Fears of potential tariffs have also led to stockpiling of silver in the US, resulting in shortages elsewhere in the world.
The US imports about two-thirds of its silver, which is used for manufacturing as well as jewellery and investment.
Manufacturers have been racing to secure supplies to ensure their operations are not interrupted by shortages, which has helped to push up prices on global markets, said Prof Marinakis.
He added that he expects the price of silver to remain high in the coming months.
Last Updated:
“Amazon to date has invested USD 40 billion in India since 2010. Now we will invest another USD 35 billion by 2030 across all our businesses in India,” Agarwal said.
Amazon To Invest USD 35 Bn In India By 2030 With Focus On AI-Driven Digitalisation
E-commerce giant Amazon is set to invest a mega-investment of USD 35 billion, over Rs 3.14 lakh crore, in India by 2030 across its businesses with a focus on AI-driven digitisation, export growth and job creation, a senior company official said on Wednesday.
Senior VP Emerging Markets, Amit Agarwal, made the announcement during the Amazon Smbhav Summit, saying the company has set a target to quadruple exports from India to USD 80 billion from about USD 20 billion.
“Amazon to date has invested USD 40 billion in India since 2010. Now we will invest another USD 35 billion by 2030 across all our businesses in India,” Agarwal said.
Amazon’s investment plan is two times of Microsoft’s investment plan of USD 17.5 billion and close to 2.3 times that of Google’s USD 15 billion investment plan by 2030.
With this investment, Amazon will become the largest foreign investor in India, according to a Keystone report compiled from publicly available data.
In May 2023, Amazon announced plans to invest USD 12.7 billion in India by 2030 into its local cloud and AI infrastructure across Telangana and Maharashtra. The company has already invested USD 3.7 billion in India between 2016 and 2022.
The company has invested at scale towards building physical and digital infrastructure, including fulfilment centres, transportation networks, data centres, digital payments infrastructure and technology development.
According to the Keystone report, Amazon has digitized over 12 million small businesses and enabled USD 20 billion in cumulative ecommerce exports, while supporting approximately 2.8 million direct, indirect, induced and seasonal jobs across industries in India in 2024.
(With inputs from agencies)
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