UK parents turning to secondhand school items amid cost-of-living crisis

As inflation hits a 40-year high, over four million UK household say they are more likely to seek out secondhand school items this year to deal with the rising cost of living crisis.

According to a new report by free-sharing app Olio, 62% of parents say they are worried about how they will afford the costs that come with the new school year and many will be seeking out pre-loved items from charities or free-sharing platforms.

In addition, 31% of parents said they already use pre-owned platforms to find back-to-school items for their children, and over half (57%) said they are now much more likely to give away their unwanted items on free-sharing platforms in a bid to help out others.

Inflation is expected to get even worse later this year, peaking at 13.3% in October, according to the Bank of England. This is likely to push the UK into a recession, starting in the fourth quarter of this year and continuing until the final three months of 2023, the Bank said earlier this month.

The most commonly replaced items set to break the bank for parents include new clothing such as school shoes (38%), shirts (36%), trousers (38%) and sports trainers (27%). Accessories are also a worry, with new lunch boxes (40%), pens (31%) and notebooks (28%) often needing replacements.

The cost of the new school year is anticipated to set families back almost £300 per child this year. However, parents can save at least £205 of that by seeking out second-hand items instead of buying brand new.

Tessa Clarke, co-Founder and CEO of OLIO, is urging parents to consider sharing their spare when they do their back-to-school clear-out: "We know that everyone is feeling the pinch and understandably many parents are worried about funding the costly back-to-school period. But when you think about the amount of perfectly good items that are being thrown away and replaced each year, it just doesn’t make sense. If more people shared their spare items with others, we could avoid so much unnecessary spending and waste.

"This back-to-school season, we are on a mission to get more people giving away instead of throwing away, and are calling on parents to share their unwanted kids’ items on the OLIO platform so they can reduce unnecessary waste and help others in their community. Starting today, we’re aiming to get 30,000 kids items listed over the next 30 days – and we need your help to get there."