Expand free school meals eligibility ‘to reduce stigma’, DfE urged
Fiona Simpson
Tuesday, June 21, 2022
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.
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.
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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”.
This stigma “has an impact on a child’s mental health, whilst they continue to experience food uncertainties due to the quantity and quality of food available within the home,” the report, published in the British Medical Journal, states.
Researchers are calling on Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi to widen eligibility criteria for free school meals to include families who are not living below the poverty threshold.
Dr Tiffany Yang, principal research fellow at the Bradford Institute for Health Research said that the study suggests that the “benchmark to qualify for free school meals is too low”.
“If this eligibility threshold was raised, then not only would it shake the stigma of free school meals being associated with poverty, it would mean fewer children overall would go hungry and fewer children would experience anxiety and stress on a daily basis,” she added.
Last week, campaigners branded an uplift in funding for universal infant free school meals “inadequate”, saying funding announced by the Department for Education amounts to just 7p per pupil for each meal.
Zahawi announced that funding to provide healthy school meals for pupils in years one and two will increase from £2.34 to £2.41 per meal, backdated to 1 April.
The funding increase, which totals £18m per year, has been agreed “in recognition of the rising cost of living”, according to DfE.
