The majority of parents and carers want the Government to extend free school meals to all children in primary state schools in England, a survey has found.
Only a quarter (26%) of parents and carers in England said they have not had to cut back on family expenses since the start of the school year, according to a poll commissioned by the National Education Union (NEU).
Among those parents and carers who reported having to make cutbacks, or who said they were struggling financially, more than half (52%) said they had cut back on the food shop since September.
The survey, carried out online by Survation between January and February, found that one in three (33%) parents and carers struggling with food costs reported having less food or less healthy food in their children’s lunchbox.
The poll, of 1,500 parents and carers with children in primary school, suggests that 41% parents in London have had to cut back on the food shop since the start of this school year, compared to 54% across England.
The findings come after free school meals were extended to every primary school pupil in London this school year as part of a scheme to help struggling families amid the cost-of-living crisis.
All children at state schools in England are entitled to free school lunches in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2.
But Year 3-6 pupils are not entitled to free school meals in primary schools – unless they are from households in receipt of eligible benefits.
