Families feel the pinch of higher children's shoe prices as kids head back to school

The briefing

Rising children's shoe prices are straining family budgets already squeezed by food and gas costs as students head back to school. Shoe prices rose 3.2% in the first half of the year, on pace for the fastest annual increase in 34 years outside the pandemic, while children's footwear sales slipped 3% with 9% fewer pairs sold. Parents are turning to thrift stores, coupons and secondhand retailers, and a Massachusetts superintendent says she has seen students repairing shoes with duct tape.