Researchers from Imperial College London looked at access to free school meals among eligible children, explored the factors associated with uptake and investigated whether receiving free school meals was associated with measures of food insecurity in the UK. They used the Understanding Society COVID-19 survey data, which asked parents about the use of free school meals.
In the UK around 10% of children experience severe food insecurity. This is associated with a wide range of negative health outcomes, including increased hospitalisations, asthma and poor mental health. Free school meals are a key public health policy in helping reduce food insecurity and ensuring that children receive adequate nutrition. There are two free school meals policies in the UK; one is a means-tested scheme for children in families receiving income-related benefits, the other is for all children between the ages of four and seven years, who are eligible for a free school meals regardless of family income.
The Covid-19 pandemic closed schools for all children, except those who were deemed vulnerable or the children of key workers. Vouchers worth £15 per week were introduced for children on free school meals in England, while Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales parents either received money or food parcels. The scheme was only made available to children on means-tested free school meals. Since the scheme was implemented there have been concerns that some children have not accessed their free school meals.
Key findings
- Children who were in the lowest income category were almost five times more likely to receive their free school meal entitlement than high income children.
- Children who were still attending school were almost six times more likely to receive their free school meal entitlement than children who could not.
- Those in junior and secondary schools were more likely to access free school meals than those in infant schools.
- Those who accessed their free school meal entitlement were found to be 14 times more likely to have recently used a food bank.
The researchers said, “It is concerning that children from low-income families who could not attend school may have continued to not have access to nutritious meals, putting their physical and mental health at risk. This issue will only grow more critical if schools are required to close for a second national lockdown. For our practice and policy partners, these findings should signify that careful monitoring, review and improvement of the FSM voucher scheme is needed. Our results indicate that the FSM vouchers were not an acceptable substitute for standard FSM provision.”
Read the research Half of children entitled to free school meals did not have access to the scheme during COVID-19 lockdown in the UK
