An overwhelming majority of parents in England support extending free school meals to all primary school children.
A poll conducted in the week after Rishi Sunak called the General Election found more than three quarters (77%) support universal provision of free dinners, regardless of parental income. The Deltapoll survey for the National Education Union (NEU) found only one in 10 (11%) oppose the move, which is already in place in London, Scotland and Wales.
Children in England can get free school meals until the end of Year 2. After that, pupils are only eligible if their families receive certain benefits under “draconian” eligibility rules. An estimated 900,000 children living in poverty miss out on free lunches due to the thresholds, according to the Child Poverty Action Group.
Parents said free school meals were necessary to ensure no child is hungry (84%), and to improve health (80%) and education (79%) attainment, the survey found. Three-quarters of parents (75%) said they thought universal free dinners would pay for itself by boosting children’s lifetime earnings.
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Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
It comes after the Liberal Democrats vowed to immediately expand provision to all kids living in poverty, with the aim of rolling it out in all primary schools when the economy is in better shape. The manifesto pledge would be funded by a US-style 4% levy on the share buybacks of FTSE 100 listed companies, which could raise around £1.4billion a year.
Neither Labour nor the Conservatives have committed to widening access to free school meals. Labour plans to focus on rolling out free breakfast clubs to all primary schools.
The Mirror and the NEU have been campaigning to expand provision to all primary school kids to ensure no child is left behind.
NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede said: “It is a disgrace that one in three children living in poverty in England is considered ‘too well off’ to access free school meals. This is because of the draconian eligibility thresholds currently in place.
Why every child deserves a free school meal
The country’s children should not be the victims of the cost of living crisis.
They should not have to pay the price because their parents cannot afford to put food on the table or heat the family home.
But at the moment there are nearly four million children living in poverty. Many of them are being brought up in homes where there is not enough money to pay for a hot meal. Some are having to skip meals entirely.
That is why the Mirror is calling on the government to provide free school meals for every primary pupil in England.
The Scottish and Welsh governments are introducing universal free school meals. It’s time England did the same.
If a child is hungry they cannot learn. It makes it harder for them to concentrate in class and harder for them to reach their potential.
Free school meals for all primary-age children would save parents vital pennies – money which could be used to pay for warm clothes, school activities or heating.
It would reduce the bureaucracy attached with deciding which pupils are eligible. Most importantly, it would mean every child have the chance to flourish.
You can find out more about our Free School Meals for All campaign here
“Across the country our members tell us they are having to feed hungry children from their own pockets, while many are struggling to make ends meet themselves. This cannot continue. It makes no sense that in one of the richest countries in the world, children are sat in classrooms with empty bellies. It should not fall to already-squeezed school budgets to plug this gap.”
The call was also backed by school leaders, who said free school meals are a “lifeline to many families”. Julia Harnden, of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “The problem is that the current system of means testing children’s access is just not working, with the restrictive eligibility criteria meaning there are hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty who are not able to make use of this scheme.
“All children and young people, regardless of their background, should have the same opportunity to access nutritious school food so that they are ready and able to learn.” She added: “Widening free school meals will require increased public spending, but really this is an opportunity to invest in the health and wellbeing of future generations. It should not be a difficult decision for the next government to make.”
The survey of 1,063 parents in England was conducted by Deltapoll for the National Education Union between 22-29 May 2024. The data have been weighted to be representative of the population of parents in England as a whole.