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.
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.
