Some afternoons I feel very lethargic. Often, it’s because I haven’t eaten enough. It’s a feeling that nobody enjoys, but one that I can fixpretty quicklyby getting a bite for lunch.Yet as the cost-of-living crisis bites, for many families, that is not an option.
According to the Food Foundation, 2.6 million children were affected by food insecurity in April. This means they had smaller meals, skipped them entirely, or didn’t eat even though they were hungry: all because their family couldn’t afford it.
That’s shocking enough in itself. But it also harms those children’s education. Studies show that children who are hungry have less success, behave worse and have worse outcomes in terms of their health.
Free school meals are a lifeline for more than one fifth of English pupils attending state schools. They save families £470 per child per year. Not only is it healthier than most packed lunches, but hot lunches are also lower in saturated fat, sodium, and sugar. Children from less well-off families tend to eat a lot less fruit and vegetables, oily fish, and fiber, so a school meal is a great way to ensure that every child has at minimum one nutritious, balanced meal each day.
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However, thousands more children living in poverty are not getting the benefits. According to the Child Poverty Action Group, more than one in three children in poverty – more than 800,000 pupils – don’t qualify for free school meals, because the criteria are too strict.
These children are starving right now. The Government is ignoring the spiralling food prices. Whilst families struggle to put food on the table, the Government’s policy is to continue to keep free school meals “under review”.
Families are in urgent need of this assistance. Liberal Democrats have called on the Government for free school meals to all children enrolled in Universal Credit households.
Government rulesrestrict free school meals to those families with net annual earnings of less than £7,400, excluding the Universal Credit they receive. However, with food prices rising by 8.7% in 12 months, food shopping is taking more of their weekly budgets. Conservative Ministers expect parents to still pay for school meals and provide healthy packed lunches, even though their budgets are tight.
Parents are also discouraged from working because of the rules. The Conservatives promised that Universal Credit would improve the lives of parents and their families by allowing them to work more hours. However, this is not true. Many parents have to make difficult choices about whether they want their children to receive free school meals or work longer hours. A family with three childrennow has to earn an extra £3,133, after tax, to make up for the cost of losing free school meals. This is a Government that wants more people to work. However, they have created a poverty trap which actively discourages parents from working.
Everyone seems to see the benefits of free school meals, except for the Treasury. Even the Government’s own adviser on the National Food Strategy, Henry Dimbleby, wants every child on Universal Credit to get a free lunch. Ministers rejected Dimbleby’s recommendation, and they also rejected his back-up plan to give 1.1million more children a free school lunch. This would have covered more children from households with very low food security than the four-fifths of them.
Education is an investment in our children’s future, but young people will not benefit unless they are happy, healthy and well-fed. Liberal Democrats are campaigning in Parliament to extend free school meals to all children on Universal Credit.We’re tabling amendments to the Schools Bill so that the Government cannot ignore the wellbeing of our children during this cost-of-living crisis.
It is obvious that it is a fundamental duty for government to ensure that children are able to afford healthy food. But Conservative Ministers fail. Our children desperately need help – and extending free school meals to all Universal Credit households is a vital first step.
Munira Wilson MP is the Liberal Democrats’ education spokesperson
