To be surprised how many parents can't afford children's footwear?

[moita]

I must have been living under a rock but: I recently started volunteering for a charity that donates coats to children who need one.

I live in a village just outside a deprived city and we have lots of requests for coats from struggling parents.

It was eye-opening. We then started having the same request: for footwear, most specifically wellies. We put out social media messages for used but good condition wellies. Lots of people donated and they were all pretty much snapped up.

I've got to say: I was surprised, naively so? I felt guilty buying my toddler wellies from the supermarket but here were parents happy to take used ones away. And a lot of the people who came to use are single mums who have fallen on hard times.

I don't know. I just feel so sad that our service is so needed.

Just a thought my local community has set up a shoe / school uniform swap shop FB site. Especially with the patchy school attendance this past year it has proved brilliant, free and sustainable. My boy is in perfect Clarks school shoes worn for two weeks by previous child and we played his forward too. All my teens in recycled uniform. Easy to measure feet using templates online or we have a Clarks foot measure doing doorstep drops 🤣 . Saved about £200 so far.

My ds is the eldest of 7 cousins. His outgrown wellies are still being handed down the chain of younger kids. As are his coats, hats, scarves, gloves and fleeces. I don’t think my dd has had a brand new pair of wellies in her life.

Children's shoes have always been hideously expensive, particularly Clarke's.

My DS is 15 and currently a size 11.5. His last pair of school shoes cost me £65, I think. At the same time he then needs trainers and football boots - which are generally even pricier.

He won't wear wellies any longer (sadly). I'd happily send him out in them - they're a LOT cheaper.

Argh payed not played..

Kids grow fast, but a pair of wellies are literally £10 in a supermarket. They’re probably not the best quality but surely they do the job for a few months!? I know people struggle at times, I have done myself whilst at uni and on working tax credits but I’ve never had to put used shoes on my child! I think it’s all about priorities.

I think a lot of people would normally pop to Primark and get what they need. Supermarkets I think can be quite expensive.
I don’t think I have seen anything for £3 from a supermarket for a long time

If one looks at Victorian images of poor children, so few have shoes. My grandfather didn't always have shoes as a child, born 1935. He missed a lot of school as he wasn't allowed to attend barefoot .

Wait till they're in adult sizes, which can happen quite soon and in primary school. If you're not buying 'school' sizes per se, there's VAT whacked on top, too.

@MizMoonshine

I'm genuinely shocked by this. As a single mum on minimum wage, I could always afford my son's shoes. That's his school shoes, plus two kinds for PE and a few pairs of trainers plus a pair of wellies and slippers. I got them from the super market and they'd come in anywhere from £3-£15 a pair. Are times really that dire now?

Things probably are that dire for some, for example DH lost his job in September. When it became apparent that he wasn't going to get a new job easily he applied for JSA in December. We also put in a UC application at the same time. Months of chasing both and he's just received his first payment today.

Luckily I'm still working and I picked up a second job but if he was a single parent he would be completely fucked.

I remember when my kids were little, the local children's centre asked us to hand in outgrown wellies and coats, as there were children coming in for their nursery hours at age 2 who didn't have these things. That was a good few years ago as well.

@LishaFlynn

Just a thought my local community has set up a shoe / school uniform swap shop FB site. Especially with the patchy school attendance this past year it has proved brilliant, free and sustainable. My boy is in perfect Clarks school shoes worn for two weeks by previous child and we played his forward too. All my teens in recycled uniform. Easy to measure feet using templates online or we have a Clarks foot measure doing doorstep drops 🤣 . Saved about £200 so far.

This is such as great initiative!

I think lockdown hasn't helped either, there are more people trying to buy the cheaper supermarket shoes. DS2 has just started walking - ordinarily I'd go get him fitted at Clarks - obviously can't do that now so I tried to get him some shoes at Asda - no baby shoes left! (He's wearing DS1s old shoes for the odd half hour he gets out of the pushchair outside but I think they are a bit too big)

Doesn't surprise me at all.

I can't afford to pay £30—£50 per pair of shoes for my 2 DC so I can't afford clarks or independent etc. Boots for winter/sandals for summer, wellies, school shoes, PE trainers and every day trainers for 2 DC's and having to be replaced every time they go up a size. I spend £10-£25 per pair and they are usually from the supermarket, H&M or deichmann.

Tbh I feel very privileged that I can afford to buy them multiple weather appropriate shoes. I know quite a few people that can only afford supermarket school shoes, plimsolls for PE and wellies in winter/trainers in summer and even then that's a real stretch. I know kids that wear wellies in the middle of summer because their parents can't afford to buy summer shoes and the wellies still fit. They also can't afford multiple coats/jackets for their DC's, their school coat is the only extra layer they have. Mine have a school coat, an every day coat (bigger size so can be next years school coat), a light rain jacket and then maybe an extra like a denim jacket. I consider myself lucky that I can afford more than one for both of my DC's.

I'm not well off by any stretch but we can afford what we need plus a few luxuries.

We are lucky enough to have an excellent independent shoe shop locally who will exchange shoes if they grow out of them within 6 weeks and who tell me if they don't need new ones yet. Having had 3 children all needing orthopedic inserts and not being able to have supermarket shoes it is $$$$ when they need new shoes, especially as one had very narrow feet, one very wide feet and one very long feet.

@Anycrispsleft

I remember when my kids were little, the local children's centre asked us to hand in outgrown wellies and coats, as there were children coming in for their nursery hours at age 2 who didn't have these things. That was a good few years ago as well.

I'm still gutted our children's centre was shut down. The team were amazing and happy for all donations.

I remember going to school in the 60s with rubber bands holding my shoes together. Where I lived it wasn’t something people thought twice about. My parents and grandparents did the same. Occasionally we would get some special glue which you had to melt on the stove and then all the shoes would be glued back together.

We have a very active give/sell what’s ap group in our village. Wellies/snow boots/football boots are given away on a regular basis. Very little is sold.

It’s a pretty middle class village too / I think people would often rather have something lightly used (especially wellies:football boots. As they’re only going to get trashed anyway.

Kids grow fast, but a pair of wellies are literally £10 in a supermarket. They’re probably not the best quality but surely they do the job for a few months!? I know people struggle at times, I have done myself whilst at uni and on working tax credits but I’ve never had to put used shoes on my child! I think it’s all about priorities.

You think people should prioritise wellies over food, electric or gas? That is literally the situation millions are living in at the moment, a tenner could well be food for a few days.

Trouble is, once they are at school, once their feet decide to have a growth spurt, it isn't just school shoes, it is wellies, trainers, slippers, football boots, maybe walking boots, etc. The cost is huge.

Dh and I are lucky enough to always have been in work - professional, salaried jobs, not zero hours or NMW jobs - yet we've always accepted gifted, outgrown wellies, walking boots, football and rugby boots, and wet shoes for our dc. I can well believe it is the norm for people on lower income.

For all those asking about charities - if anyone is in Birmingham or North Worcs there is Rubery Swop Shop

I can’t imagine how any parent couldn’t imagine how other parents struggle when it comes to buying shoes. They’re expensive, especially when they hit puberty. My DS grew out of kids’ sizes when he was about 9 and his feet seem to grow before my eyes. He’s 13 and he’s already 8.5.

I’m absolutely dreading him gong back to school. I spent £160 on his branded uniform, which he wore for a term, but he’s grown a good couple of inches at least since August when we bought it.

Kids are fucking expensive, and if you’re not loaded you really notice it.

Kids shoes are ridiculously expensive. I was surprised that even supermarket boots for my toddler were £18. I decided to get him a pair of Timberlands for £30 in the sale instead as they won’t get worn out before he needs new ones and I can probably sell them on after. He has those, a pair of trainers and cheap wellies. That’s all I can justify spending on as we’re low income. I can’t imagine what it must be like for people with more than one child. We’d probably have to buy second had, or just one supermarket pair per child. Factor in school shoes too and I don’t know how people do it.

Something else, “children’s” shoes stop eventually. DS has had size 8 feet since Year 6. Size 8 attracts VAT!

This is why the independent children’s shoe shops are on the decline. Many people are not using them.

Not surprising, it's expensive! I printed a size guide out at home and then bought supermarket shoes for DS, all under a tenner, and didn't wear out/get ruined before he grew out of them. Honestly the quality of previous market leaders such as Clarks isn't that different from tu, George etc now.

One of my daughters has been in adult trainer size since she was 9, they are twice the price of children's sizes.

I have four kids, a pair of school shoes each is over £200. then they need plimsolls football boots and trainers as well as regular shoes, boots for winter and wellies.

We can afford this but I can easily see how anyone could struggle even with just one child.

Many people who I know who are comfortably well off choose to buy second hand

Really? You know “many well-off people” who buy secondhand shoes for their children? Where are they buying them with charity shops having been closed for months?