The majority of parents and carers want the government to extend free school meals (FSM) to all children in primary state schools in England, a survey has found.
The poll, conducted by Survation on behalf of the NEU teaching union’s No Child Left Behind campaign, found 88 per cent of parents and carers outside London want the government to extend FSM to all primary school children in England - with two-thirds saying they “strongly” supported this change.
The responses also show that only a quarter (26 per cent) of parents and carers in England said they have not had to cut back on family expenses since the start of the school year, the survey found.
Among those parents and carers who reported having to make cutbacks or who said they were struggling financially, more than half (52 per cent) said they had cut back on the food shop since September.
The survey, carried out online between 31 January and 8 February this year, found that one in three (33 per cent) 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 per cent of parents in London have had to cut back on the food shop since the start of this school year, compared with 54 per cent across England.
The findings come after FSM 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 pupils in Years 3-6 are not entitled to FSM in primary schools unless they are from households in receipt of eligible benefits.
FSM for primary pupils in London
Last month, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced that his policy for all primary-aged children in the capital to receive a free lunch will run for a second school year.
The findings come after the number of pupils eligible for FSM rose to more than two million in the 2022-23 academic year, according to government data.
The research, which also surveyed 1,500 primary school-aged children, suggests that 37 per cent of children reported knowing someone at school who sometimes does not have enough food to eat at lunch.
More than one in four (28 per cent) pupils reported sharing food at least two to three times a month with peers because they did not have money to eat enough.
Ahead of the spring Budget, campaigners are calling on the government to commit to FSM for all pupils in state primary schools in England.
The Scottish government has committed to providing FSM for all primary school pupils and the full expansion is due to take place in 2026, while in Wales, the rollout of universal primary FSM is due to be completed this year.
‘Incredibly worrying rise in difficulty in afford food’
Teacher Ann-Marie Ferrigan in Liverpool, whose pupils wrote to the prime minister on this issue last year, said: “The last few years I have seen an incredibly worrying rise in difficulty affording food, the worst I have seen in my career as a teacher.
“It is so vital that prime minister Rishi Sunak listens to the voices of parents and children and extends free school meals so that every primary school child in England can benefit.”
Dr Camilla Kingdon, president of The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “No matter what’s happening in the country, or the economy, children’s health is paramount.
“This poll supports what our College has been warning about for some time: the cost-of-living crisis is driving a decline in health and nutrition in children. As doctors, we call on the government to urgently review their position.”
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the NEU, said: “It is simply tone-deaf for this government to claim that the cost-of-living crisis is easing when so many parents of all incomes are cutting back on food.
“The chancellor [Jeremy Hunt] has three weeks to decide if he is serious about young people. When he steps up to the despatch box for the spring Budget, he needs to tell the country that free school meals should be available to every child in every primary school in England, not just London.”
A Government spokesman said: “We want to give every child the best start in life and we understand the pressures many households are under, which is why we have doubled the number of children receiving free school meals since 2010 from one sixth to one third.
“We are supporting the most vulnerable with record cost-of-living support worth around £3,700 per household and have halved inflation to help everyone’s money go further, while our household support fund is also helping people with the cost of essentials.”
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