The Easter Bunny is no longer affordable. A typical Easter basket now costs $49.66 — up 34 percent from $37 last year — according to CouponFollow's Easter Basket Inflation Index, which tracks prices at Walmart, Target, Kroger and Albertsons in the week before Easter.[2]

The candy is the worst of it. Easter candy prices have risen 73.5 percent over five years. Cadbury Creme Eggs jumped 57 percent to $5.49. Lindt Gold Bunnies climbed from $5.49 to $7.29. A six-pack of Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs rose nearly 40 percent to $5.99. A 10-pack of Peeps went up 21 percent to $3.64.[1]

Sugar is the driver. The commodity rose 50 percent over five years to $1.02 per pound, fueled by crop failures in West Africa — too much rain, too much heat, too much disease. Cocoa prices followed. Chocolate Easter eggs have responded by shrinking: higher prices, smaller sizes, the same foil.[2]

Plastic eggs are not spared. A bag of 48 plastic eggs costs $3 today, up 52 percent from 2021, as petroleum cost hikes pass through to the cheapest components of the holiday.[1]

Easter brunch is not immune. Ham, eggs, butter, milk, flour, sugar and Easter lilies pushed the cost of a family Easter meal up 23.1 percent over five years to $37.36.[2]

"The increase in food prices versus a handful of years ago is staggering and continues to put significant pressure on consumer spending across all income levels," Gordon Haskett retail analyst Chuck Grom told The Post.[1]

The basket that cost $29 five years ago now costs $49.66. The children do not notice the difference. The parents do.

-- MAYA CALLOWAY, New York