Lucila Castillo, a food service worker in a Boston suburb, struggles to afford shoes and other back-to-school items for her two daughters. She earns about $700 a week as her family's primary breadwinner. After paying $2,200 a month for rent and utilities, only $600 remains for all other expenses for her husband and two children. When her younger daughter asked for new Sambas or soccer cleats, Castillo had to refuse. "We have to pay the rent," she stated plainly.
Who Pays the Price
Families across the country are facing escalating prices for children’s shoes as the school year approaches, forcing impossible choices. Almi Guajardo Abeyta, the school superintendent in Chelsea, Massachusetts, reports that worn-out, ill-fitting shoes remain one of the most visible indicators of childhood poverty in her community. She has observed students fixing their footwear with duct tape. Abeyta notes that families are finding it harder than ever to make ends meet, often having to choose between basic necessities. "If you have to make a decision of feeding your family or a pair of shoes, you’re going to feed your family," Abeyta explained.
In New York, 12-year-old Jonah Seidenberg wanted Nike Minds, a $145 sneaker. He and his mother, Lisa Seidenberg, searched online for discounts but found none. They bought the shoes at full price, with Jonah contributing $40 of his own money because the cost exceeded his parents' budget. Elizabeth Powers, a 37-year-old San Francisco real estate agent with two children, finds it "frustrating" that shoe prices climb while quality declines. She aims to spend only a couple hundred dollars per child for the year, including shoes, and actively seeks coupons. Powers noted that children's feet grow quickly, making the poor quality even more infuriating when shoes must be replaced before they are outgrown.
Profits Over People
Footwear prices rose by 3.2% in the first half of this year. This puts full-year prices on track for the fastest increase in 34 years, excluding the pandemic years of 2021 and 2022. This surge in cost comes even as consumers buy fewer items. From January through June, adult footwear sales increased by 1% from the previous year, but the number of pairs sold fell by 7%. The average sale price, however, rose by 8%. Children’s footwear sales slipped by 3%, with pairs sold dropping by 9% while the average sale price increased by 7%. This data, from market research firm Circana, reveals that corporations are extracting more profit per unit. Beth Goldstein, an industry adviser at Circana, acknowledged that children’s footwear sales should be stable due to rapid growth, yet parents are buying fewer pairs.
Kids feel intense pressure to wear specific sneaker brands, according to New York trend analyst Casey Lewis. Jonah Seidenberg confirmed this, stating that the wrong shoes or tattered ones can invite bullying. He and his mother resort to thrift stores for other clothing brands like Hollister and Polo Ralph Lauren to save money for shoes.
State Policy and False Solutions
The Footwear Distributors and Retailers Association attributes the rising footwear prices to President Donald Trump’s tariff policies and the ongoing Iran war. These policies, which drive up the cost of petroleum-derived products like shoes, directly benefit corporate interests by limiting competition and securing resources, passing the cost onto working families.
In response to the crisis, retailers like Target and JCPenney are offering "back-to-school deals." Michelle Wlazlo, JCPenney’s brand chief executive officer, noted that shoppers are "choiceful" in their purchases. Secondhand retailers such as Goodwill and ThredUp also report increased customer interest in gently worn back-to-school shoes. Kristen Brophy, ThredUp’s senior vice president of marketing, stated that children’s footwear is a fast-growing segment for the company, as shoppers seek steep discounts on popular styles. These market-based solutions offer minor relief but fail to address the systemic issues of wage suppression and corporate price gouging that create the affordability crisis in the first place.