The average cost of high school uniforms has risen by more than ?10,000 ($65) from a year ago, according to a nationwide survey on educational expenses recently released by nongovernmental organization Save the Children Japan.

The increase highlights growing financial pressure on families as inflation pushes up the cost of sending children to school.

The online survey was conducted in August among applicants for the organization¡¯s enrollment support program for this academic year. The program provides grants of ?30,000 for each child entering junior high and ?50,000 per child entering high school.

It received responses from 148 students and 436 parents or guardians ¡ª mainly single mothers ¡ª across all prefectures except Tottori.

According to the survey, the average cost of uniforms has risen by ?8,325 to ?64,656 for first-year junior high students, while that for first-year high school students is ?80,621, up ?10,006 from last year.

Respondents said schools required them to purchase uniforms, shoes and bags from designated shops at set prices.

Nearly 70% of parents and guardians said ¡°being able to buy uniforms and gym clothes at lower prices or not having to buy them at all¡± would help them the most, while 56.2% said schools should stop designating shops for such purchases to allow the sourcing of cheaper options.

Expenses for computers and tablets also remained significant, particularly for high school students. While some municipalities offer subsidies or provide their own devices to students, some have shifted device costs from public budgets to households, which squeezes family finances further.

A total of 82.3% of respondents with children who enrolled in the first year of public high schools said they were told by the school to purchase a specific model; for private schools, 88.1% said the same.

Other concerns that parents and guardians had in relation to their children attending high school included lunch costs (53.7%), commuting costs (47.6%) and textbooks (42.4%).

While the government plans to expand free tuition and school assistance programs, Save the Children Japan says support measures are having to play catch-up with rising prices.

It called for additional steps to be taken by relevant ministries and local authorities, including making school supplies part of school-owned inventories, allowing students flexibility when it comes to buying necessary items for their education to ease the burden on households and expanding economic support programs.

One first-year high school respondent from Tokyo wrote, ¡°I¡¯ve had to give up everything apart from food and tuition fees. I don¡¯t want my future children to go through this. I never want to have kids. Everyone around me feels the same way.¡±