While the proportion of children eligible for free school meals (FSM) in England has jumped from 15% in 2019 to more than 22% this year, heads say the number of “invisible hungry people” – from families in poverty but not poor enough to qualify – has also increased. In addition to the 1.9 million children who are eligible for FSM, mainly because they live in households on benefits and with an annual income of less than £7,400, the Child Poverty Action Group estimates that there are 800,000 children in families below its threshold of poverty, with universal credit or other benefits but losing FSM. Rebecca Curtis, head of the Ark Elvin academy in London, said: “FSM eligibility is such a blunt tool – it doesn’t define poverty in London. The vast majority of our children come from working poor backgrounds. After paying rent, even a £30,000-a-year couple with children lives in poverty. “We see children who don’t eat lunch, waiting until they leave school to buy something cheaper than our school meals – usually a piece of chicken and chips for £1.” Principals say the effects of hunger on their students are stark. “Children who come to school hungry will struggle to concentrate, struggle to learn and struggle to behave, and that makes our job harder,” said the head of a state secondary school in the West Midlands. “I’ve got 14- and 15-year-old boys growing up who can’t get enough to eat, their parents can’t afford the £2.60 we charge for lunches every day, and it’s causing all sorts of problems – stealing food, stealing money, and all this because they don’t have enough to eat.” Even those who receive free meals often come from households defined as “very low food security,” where family members must skip meals or eat less because of a lack of money or other sources of food. The problem extends to wealthier parts of England, such as Wokingham or Windsor, where around one in 10 pupils are eligible for FSM. But the numbers soar in more deprived areas of the country: Islington, Blackpool and Manchester have more than 40% of all children who meet the criteria. In the north-east of England, almost one in three pupils are eligible, compared with around one in six in the south-east. But schools’ ability to help is hampered by a cost crisis that affects them as much as the families of the children they teach. Some secondary schools have seen their energy bills treble this year despite government aid, while an unexpected rise in teachers’ pay has added hundreds of thousands of pounds to wages. “Everyone knows about the energy crisis, but MPs don’t understand that this year’s pay rises were not funded [by government]said Bryn Thomas, the headteacher at Wolverley CofE High School in Worcestershire. Kat Pugh, the headteacher of St Marylebone’s in central London, said her school planned to provide free breakfast to all pupils who needed it, not just those on FSM. “The financial hit of unfunded fees has challenged our ability to provide free breakfast to other students, particularly the 30% of students who are also financially disadvantaged and do not qualify for free school meals,” Pugh said. “We cannot afford to do this and we are working hard with local businesses and partners to raise money for this.” Councils, another source of funding for struggling families and schools, are themselves facing budget pressures, having already experienced more than a decade of cuts and cuts since the start of austerity policies in 2010. The Local Government Association estimates that the increase in prices and wages added £2.4 billion in costs to local authority budgets this year. Chef Jamie Oliver is among those backing the Food Foundation’s ‘feed the future’ campaign to extend FSM eligibility to all children from families on benefits, with Oliver describing the policy in England as ‘the worst’ in the UK. The Scottish and Welsh governments have said they will extend free school meals to all primary school pupils. In England, only children in the first three years of primary school, Reception to Year 2, receive free meals in all areas. The campaign led by Oliver has garnered bipartisan support, with Richard Walker, the chief executive of the Iceland supermarket chain, who is running to become a Conservative MP, publicly backing an expansion of FSM as a “critical priority” for disadvantaged children . Michael Gove, the former education secretary who introduced universal free school meals for infants, has also backed an extension, saying last month: “What we can do is extend access to free school meals for every child in a family which receives universal credit’ at a cost of £500 million a year. Bridget Philipson, the shadow education secretary, has pledged that a Labor government will fund free school breakfasts for all primary school pupils.
