A little over a year ago, Mumbai-based parent Violet Monteiro did not anticipate how expensive 2020 was going to be for her. Soon after schools turned remote, online classes began eating into savings which she had set aside for the family`s other priorities. Besides school fees, they now needed a Wi-Fi connection and multiple electronic devices to study. “I had stopped a Wi-Fi connection years ago but it was necessary for online studies. I had to buy a new phone and repair my old one for both my children to be able to study. Initially, I even kept my phone at home for them,” says the mother, whose two children are in class 9 and class 11. 

Monteiro’s experience mirrors that of many working parents. The pandemic has similarly taken a toll on a single parent from Kalwa, who has two children -- one with special needs and the other a teenage girl. “Both my children had different needs, and as a single parent who goes to work, we didn’t have enough gadgets. We didn’t even have an internet connection that could run video calls,” explains the mother, who requested not to be named. All this required an investment of at least Rs 7,000 a year. “The fact that we live in a small space made it more difficult, if the timings of the classes clashed, it would become a problem for both of them,”