CYP Now - Expand free school meals eligibility ‘to reduce stigma’, DfE urged

Widening eligibility for free school meals could not only reduce the number of children facing food insecurity but remove the stigma felt by those who do receive them, researchers have said.

Children report feeling stressed about receiving free school meals, researchers warn. Picture: Adobe Stock

A study by York University and the Bradford Institute for Health Research finds that a “significant number” of children who do not meet the eligibility criteria for free school meals are going hungry.

Some 20 per cent of children surveyed by researchers said that despite not meeting the criteria, they were often forced to skip meals due to food insecurity.

Meanwhile, of those that are eligible for free school meals, 51 per cent said they “felt stressed and worried on a daily basis, largely due to the stigma attached to having to access free meals and other poverty-related issues”.

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