The choice many families face: pay bills or buy school essentials

The Guardian

17-02-2025

When Mary's primary school-aged son Christopher started refusing to go to class, she felt powerless. She knew he was anxious and afraid to go without the 'right' gear, but Mary was having to make difficult choices between buying school supplies or food for her family. She couldn't afford it all.
'It was an underlying thing of not having what the other kids had,' Mary says. 'You could see the obvious differences of what he had to what they had. So I think that's what made it a lot harder.'
Mary's story is increasingly common. The single mum of three lives in rental accommodation north-west of Melbourne. Along with Christopher, now 14, she has another son Kodie, 12, and a daughter, Abbey, 11. They are among the 1.2 million children and young people in Australia who live below the poverty line.
While Mary has always tried to give her kids what they need to succeed, she says the soaring cost of living means there's not enough money to go around. 'It's not about trying harder,' she says. 'You try as hard as you can. But sometimes it just doesn't happen.'
Mary's financial difficulties are compounded by the fact that she also lives with a chronic illness and has high medical expenses. 'They say it takes a village to raise a kid,' she says, 'but then you're left on the outer and made to feel crappy because you can't provide for them, and you can't give them everything they need.'
Christopher's reluctance to attend school was a serious concern. Access to education is a crucial factor in lifting families out of disadvantage.
In 2022, during a particularly rough patch, the children's school had an idea. It was involved in a program run by The Smith Family called Learning for Life – which supports students with the essentials they need for their schooling, from uniforms and stationery to academic support and electronic devices – and it suggested Mary give the charity a call.
'It was such a relief when they picked up,' she says. 'It was like having a rock lifted.'
Mary and her kids were connected with a Learning for Life coordinator, whose role it is to make sure everyone is getting what they need so children can do their best at school. That can be anything from checking on school reports to creating tailored programs that help kids learn in their own ways, and it's a key part of the way The Smith Family supports families.
Photo supplied.
Mary now has the internet connected at home, and devices, so each child has access not just to suitable shoes, books and uniforms but also to the digital tools they need for schooling. 'It's opened up the world,' Mary says.
For Christopher, it has been life changing. With this extra support, he is back in class five days a week – and loving it.
Kate Baddiley is a regional team leader for The Smith Family in Victoria. She sees many families like Mary's doing it tougher than ever.
'Our families are experiencing disadvantage in a variety of ways,' she says. 'It's generally financial disadvantage or financial distress, but that flows into nearly every area of their lives – education being one of those areas.'
The cost-of-living crisis is affecting an increasing number of Australian families, and those living with disadvantage are having to make difficult financial decisions, Baddiley says.
To get a clearer picture of these pressures, The Smith Family conducts an annual Pulse survey, asking more than 2,000 families about their lives with school-aged children. 'Almost 60% of all survey respondents have found it hard, or very hard, to afford all the things that their children need for school this year,' Baddiley says. And almost 18% said family financial pressures had made the school year difficult for their child in 2024.
'Our families [are] having to make impossible decisions, really, about where they put their money,' Baddiley says. 'Decisions like, do I pay the electricity bill, or do I replace the worn-out school shoes?'
NAPLAN figures show that kids experiencing disadvantage are, on average, more than five years behind their most advantaged peers by year 9. Under enormous pressure from rising food and fuel costs, Baddiley says, some families are being forced to move away from familiar schools, further disrupting their children's learning.
'Once you're behind,' she says, 'it's harder to catch up.'
Helping these families is complex – but casting blame is not the answer. 'We often speak about families living with disadvantage, rather than they are disadvantaged,' Baddiley says. 'We do that intentionally, because we know that somebody is not their circumstances.'
Rather than asking its families to work harder on budgets, The Smith Family offers help in three ways through the Learning for Life program: financial help, program support and local engagement from a dedicated coordinator. 'Having that long-term support allows children and families to engage in a variety of our programs,' Baddiley says, pointing to the organisation's initiatives in learning to read, the arts, career education and more.
'We know that education is a changemaker,' she says. 'If we can get kids to school, we can really break that cycle of disadvantage. They're then empowered and educated to make decisions for themselves and for the future of their family.'
For Mary, the future looks quite different these days. Thanks to The Smith Family's ongoing support, Kodie is keen to work as a mechanic, while Abbey is aiming to become a vet. And after participating in Victoria's Blue EDGE program, Christopher also has a new goal: to become a police officer.
'Before we were in The Smith Family, they had no idea what they wanted to do,' Mary says. 'It shows you that through the support and everything they've received, how much more confidence they've grown in themselves.
'It just makes me feel so lucky to be able to be a part of that special group, where I know my kids are going to succeed.'
By sponsoring a child with The Smith Family, you can provide financial support to help them make the most of their education and break the cycle of poverty.