One year on since Mayor Sadiq Khan announced the extension of Free School Meals to all children in London state primaries, the positive benefits of universal hot school dinners are already being felt in the capital by children and parents.
Tuesday, 20 February, 2024 - A new poll conducted by Survation on behalf of the National Education Union (NEU)’s No Child Left Behind campaign, compared the experiences of 1,500 parents and 1,500 children (1,000 of each in England and 500 in London).
It has found:
- 52% of struggling parents/carers in England are cutting back on the food shop, 59% on energy and 36% on out-of-school activities for kids
- The picture is worse across England than in London. Since the start of this school year, only four in ten (41%) parents in London have had to cut back on the food shop, compared to more than five in ten (54%) across England
- One in three (33%) parents/carers struggling with food costs report having less food or less healthy food in their children’s lunchbox.
- Free School Meals for All is widely popular, as 88% of parents/carers outside London state support for the UK Government to extend universal Free School Meals to all primary school children in England, with two thirds (66%) “strongly” supporting this change.
The poll paints a stark picture of hunger in the nation’s schools, finding that four in ten (37%) of children know someone at school who sometimes does not have enough food to eat. Three in ten (28%) pupils report sharing food at least 2-3 times a month with hungry peers.
Campaigners are united in their demand to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to commit to extending Free School Meals to the 4.6 million children in state primary schools in England – as London, Wales and Scotland have done. The last chance to do so before an election is looming in the Spring Budget on 6 March.
As Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claims cost of living pressures are starting to ease, only one in four (26%) parents of primary school children in England are coping financially this school year, with one in five (18%) parents struggling to afford basic needs at all. The poll also found that the cost of living crisis is causing parents to cut back on a series of important nutritional items from the family food shop with knock-on impacts on children’s diet. Since the start of this school year, 45% of parents report cutting down on red meat, 38% fresh fruit and 32% fish.
As 31% of parents reduce fresh vegetables in the family shop, only 4% of parents in England whose children mainly eat packed lunches report typically including vegetables in their children’s lunchbox. Meanwhile in London, where Free School Meals have now been rolled out to all year groups in state primary schools, the impact is already noticeable. 54% of London parents said the scheme has improved the variety in their children's diet. 78% report family budgets easing somewhat or significantly due to Free School Meals for All. As one London parent put it: “I would have had to start funding my child's lunches as he will be going into Year 3 - I had no idea where this money would come from so was extremely relieved when the extension to Free School Meals was announced.” Many parents cite time (26%) as well as money (34%) as an obstacle to preparing a healthy and balanced packed lunch for their children every day.
With the London roll-out underway, 61% of London parents say time pressures have eased. 41% of those parents have been able to spend more time working (e.g. increasing hours), 63% have been able to spend more time with the family (helping with homework, playing with children). Half of the children (50%) polled in London from Years 4-6 said the roll out of Free School Meals for all children in their school meant they and their classmates had better concentration.
A quarter (25%) say they can now eat and be together at lunchtime. Three in ten (29%) children in London said they would be ‘sad for other children’ who would miss out if the scheme ends next school year (2024-25) as anticipated. Other responses children gave about the idea that it might not continue in the long term included ‘really upset’, ‘unfair’ and ‘pathetic’. As one child put it: “I feel sad that some of my friends might not be able to eat lunch with me because of money”.