• A Wellington woman was shocked by a $1000 bill for her son’s school uniform. 
• Financial coach Shula Newland said high school uniforms are costly and can strain family budgets. 
• Fincap reported that back-to-school expenses often lead families to seek financial support. 

A Wellington woman was horrified when she was handed the bill for her son’s uniform this year and discovered she had to pay more than $1000. 

The Wellington College kit, including a $60 physical education shirt, $260 blazer, $85 shorts, $130 rain jacket and $30 shorts, was the most expensive uniform she had ever bought, she said. 

She said it seemed tough to have such a high cost at a state school. 

She did not want to be identified because her son would be “mortified” but she said she worried about other families. 

“It’s a pretty unwelcome-sized bill. We can stretch to cover it… but it’s a huge amount of money. And kids also have to have a laptop so it all adds up.” 

She said every uniform item had the school’s crest on it so she could not buy a cheaper generic version. The uniform was bought from the school’s uniform shop. 

In a response to RNZ, Wellington College said it would not comment on the cost of uniforms. 

At Auckland Grammar, a school jersey is $110, a school shirt $55, a rain jacket $165 and a shirt $50. At Whangārei Boys' High, a jacket is about $100, trousers $90, and blazer $225. Rotorua Girls' High jumpers are $100, blouses $40 and skirts between $50 and $60. 

Financial coach Shula Newland said uniforms tended to be more expensive for high schools, and it could be a problem for families, particularly if they had depleted their savings over Christmas. 

“The private school uniforms would be even more, and I do know parents that will live off noodles to send their children to ‘good’ schools.” 

Some parents can buy second-hand uniforms from school uniform shops or online. 

A spokesman for Fincap, a network of financial mentors, said back-to-school expenses drove families to look for support because they often had to be bought in bulk not long after the financial hit of Christmas. 

He said mentors reported that $1000 was not unusual for a uniform and that blazers were particularly expensive. 

He said Fincap data showed that the more dependent children someone had, the higher proportion of their income was going to clothing. 

“While that is logical, to have double the median clothing spend when you have four or more dependent children … is a lot of money on an already tight annual budget to come up with in bulk for uniforms.” 

He said Fincap mentors reported that clients often sought support from charities such as Variety, or looked for advances from the Ministry of Social Development. 

Last month, University of Otago lecturer in public health Johanna Reidy told Morning Report that uniforms should encourage school attendance, not be a barrier. 

Reidy said the research she had been involved with on the impact of uniforms on education and health had shown there was a place for school uniforms, but they needed to be less complex as a way of reducing cost. 

“The more broad research I’ve been doing into the impact of uniforms on education and health shows that when we are looking globally at most studies, there is a place for school uniforms, easy school uniforms though. 

“It can be a very simple one that helps reduce distractions and helps students settle to task.” 

-Susan Edmunds, RNZ