No child should ever go to school hungry – it is unacceptable

It is absolutely unacceptable and, indeed, unforgivable for any child to go to school hungry in Britain in 2022. Yet sadly, this is what is happening, right now – and it is under the Conservative Party’s watch.

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Until 1 April 2018, all children of parents in receipt of universal credit were entitled to free school meals. However, the government has since limited eligibility for recipients of the benefit by introducing a net annual earnings cap of £7,400.

That means that if you earn £616.66 per month – and that might be split between two adults, with three or even four kids to feed at home – those children will not be eligible. In real terms, we now know that this equates to 800,000 children who are living in poverty – 800,000 who aren’t considered eligible for free school meals.

The Independent has spoken to families this is affecting, such as Shawn, 45, a single mother of two and a phlebotomist who works part-time. She skips lunch every day.

“It is too expensive to eat three meals a day and feed my children,” she says. “I am on universal credit because I earn so little but as my income is above the government threshold of £7,400 a year, my daughter [in year 3] does not get free school meals. I also have a second child, aged three, to feed and I come to the food bank every week. I come early because this queue can get long. I aim to get at least one day’s meals.”

My kids are six and 10 and go to breakfast club at their school every morning. The thought that they likely have friends (their school happens to sit in one of the poorest boroughs in London, with one of the highest proportions of people living in poverty, according to data collected by the charity Trust for London) whose families cannot afford to feed them before they set out to learn is heartbreaking.

This is why we are so passionate about our new campaign. The prime minister must extend free school meals to all children in poverty and end the hunger crisis that is damaging their life chances. We demand it.

We have partnered with a coalition of campaigning organisations coordinated by the Food Foundation, the charity that combined with footballer Marcus Rashford to successfully force the government to feed hungry pupils in school holidays during the pandemic – but you can help too. Start by tweeting about this, by calling on your MP to end this shameful legacy. And don’t forget to sign our petition. Let’s make change happen – together.

Yours,

Victoria Richards

Voices editor