Women’s Money Matters graduate Deonne shares with WBUR the financial planning skills she is utilizing from our financial wellness program to navigate this back to school season with two kids and high prices. “I had to start early, because the prices are so high,” Luacaw said. “You have to get the right deals at the right time.”
Women’s Money Matters recognizes the cost of living increases as a major challenge for women living on low-incomes, since the cost of everything from necessities to childcare to housing prices continue to increase. “According to federal data, prices were up about 7% in greater Boston in July compared to the same time last year.”
Danielle Piskadlo, our Executive Director, shares in this article that many of our participants, “Lost wages during the pandemic, and their incomes still haven’t fully recovered and then on the heels of that, having the rising inflation and rising prices is just a whole new dynamic.”
“We’re very cognizant of the fact that you cannot budget your way out of poverty,” Piskadlo said. “Larger barriers like the lack of housing or affordable child care… those do impact the women that are in our programs and their finances.”
In surveys our participants have cited rises in prices on utilities, gas, and groceries, as reasons making ends meet has been even more difficult than usual.
Many thanks to Yasmin Amer for highlighting this important financial challenge that many women in our communities are facing as they work to give their kids the best back to school start possible.
Read or listen to the article here:
https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/09/06/education-inflation-money-budget-expensive
