Enab Baladi –Christina al-Shammas
For Syrians, September is often dubbed the “month of heavy expenses.” Unlike other months of the year, it arrives with overlapping financial burdens and pressing household needs.
Every September coincides with the start of the new school year, bringing with it costly requirements such as school uniforms, stationery, and backpacks. No sooner do parents finish covering these needs than they are faced with preparing winter provisions, known locally as mouna, a long-standing tradition in Syrian households that has now become a financial strain for many.
The costs do not stop there. Families must also secure heating fuel before winter sets in, wary of sudden price hikes.
Enab Baladi spoke with families in Damascus about how they cope with September’s expenses and manage their daily lives on limited incomes.
School supplies: A costly bill
With the start of every school year, markets see a spike in the price of uniforms, bags, and stationery.
A tour of Damascus markets revealed that equipping a single primary school student with the cheapest available supplies costs a family about 150,000 Syrian pounds (about $13). For middle or high school students, expenses rise to around 250,000 pounds (about $22) due to different needs.
Rami Mhanna, a government employee earning 400,000 pounds ($36) a month and father of two elementary schoolchildren, described September as a “ghost” that haunts families each year.
He explained that he could not purchase all the supplies his children required because of the mounting expenses that far exceed his salary.“The problem is that school expenses come at the same time as preparing makdous (eggplant pickled with walnuts, peppers, and olive oil) and securing diesel for the winter. September presents me with a bill that my salary cannot cover even a quarter of,” he said.
The “makdous” tradition and the looming winter
In Syrian popular culture, September is also known as the “month of makdous.” Families begin preparing winter provisions, particularly jars of pickled eggplant, yet the costs have become overwhelming. Preparing provisions for a family of five can cost up to 700,000 pounds (about $62).
Samira Abbas, a 50-year-old homemaker, recalled that September was once known as the month of abundance. Today, however, it has turned into a “month of confusion and financial nightmares,” as she put it.
She used to prepare at least 50 kilograms of makdous each year but could only afford 20 kilograms this season, after losing her job due to illness.“Even after cutting down the amount, I still had to borrow money. And yet, September’s expenses are far from over,” she said.
As September signals the approach of winter, families rush to secure heating diesel. Despite its availability since the fall of the former regime, many remain anxious about potential price hikes.
What worries Asmaa al-Yousef, a mother of three earning less than one million pounds ($89) a month, is not school expenses or provisions, but how to keep her children warm.
She said she recently paid over 100,000 pounds (about $9) for just ten liters of diesel, a quantity that lasts only a few days.Faced with two harsh choices, she explained: either buy more diesel before prices rise at the expense of her children’s school needs, or cover their full school expenses and winter provisions but leave them without heat.
A salary that covers only two and a half days
All the testimonies gathered by Enab Baladi point to one shared struggle: the widening gap between income and expenses.
Figures from the “Qasioun Cost of Living Index,” published last June, show that the recent 200% increase in Syrian salaries still falls short of covering basic family needs. The minimum wage of 750,000 pounds (about $67) can barely cover two and a half days of consumption for a family of five.
Data showed that by the end of the first half of this year, the average cost of living for a Syrian family of five had surpassed 14.4 million pounds (about $1,280), while the minimum was around 9.1 million pounds (about $809). This reveals the vast gap between the minimum wage and the steadily rising average cost of living.
Meanwhile, despite the official increase in the minimum wage, salaries remain fragile in real value. Compared to the average family’s living costs, the minimum wage covers only about 5.1% of essential needs—less than two and a half days of minimum consumption for a family of five.
Concluding his remarks to Enab Baladi, Rami Mhanna expressed hope for a salary raise that would at least allow him to cover his children’s school needs without depriving them of winter provisions or heating. For him, that would turn September from a month of “expenses and obligations” into a month of peace.
September Weighs Heavily on Syrian Families Enab Baladi.
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