More than 350,000 children will lose their free school meals because of Government changes to the welfare system, according to a new study.
The report by the Children’s Society entitled Fair and Square warns that the introduction of the universal credit in October 2013- a single payment to replace most benefits and tax credits - will mean certain benefits will be stopped if a household earns more than £7,500 a year.
At the moment children are eligible for free school meals (FSM) if their families have an income, including benefits, of below £16,000 a year.
Under the current system, this entitlement is withdrawn if lone parents work 16 or more hours a week, or 24 hours a week for couples, although they gain working tax credits under new rules introduced at the beginning of this month.
However, the Children’s Society argues that from October next year the high withdrawal rate of benefits when families earn more or work longer hours means that the families affected will have to earn far more before they can recover the loss of free school meals.
According to the charity, a lone parent with three school aged children would need to earn an extra £88 per week, more than £4,500 a year, to make up for the loss of free school meals.
This means their earnings would need to increase from £7,500 to more than £12,000 a year before their overall income, including the value of FSM, reached the level it was at when their income was below £7,500.
The report shows that school meals cost an average of £1.88 in local authority catered primary schools, and £1.98 in secondary schools. An average across the two of £1.93 for each child would mean FSM are worth approximately £367 a year.
The Children’s Society claims that this loss is likely to be exacerbated as the family would also lose the additional entitlements that are provided locally as a result of the receipt of FSM, including uniform allowance and a reduction in the cost of using leisure facilities.
To address this problem, the Children’s Society is calling for the extension of free school meals to all children living in poverty, meaning a further 1.3 million children would be eligible. They estimate that this would cost the Government around £500 million per year.
Elaine Hindal of the Children’s Society said, ‘We have shown that there are literally hundreds of thousands of children living below the poverty line who aren’t getting a free school meal. There is no reasonable defence for this policy failure.
‘The Government has a unique opportunity to extend free school meals to all low-income working families, so that no child living in poverty misses out. This would be in line with the government’s aim to make work pay by paving the way for many families to return to employment and help lift them out of poverty.’
Children’s minister Sarah Teather said, ‘We remain totally committed to continuing to provide free school meals to children from the poorest families.
‘We are reforming welfare to get more people into jobs as that is the surest way of cutting poverty.
‘The reforms mean we will have to think hard about the best way to decide who is eligible for FSM so they continue to be targeted at those who need them the most. No plans have yet been set and we will be consulting later this year about the best way forward.’
At the moment children are eligible for free school meals (FSM) if their families have an income, including benefits, of below £16,000 a year.
Under the current system, this entitlement is withdrawn if lone parents work 16 or more hours a week, or 24 hours a week for couples, although they gain working tax credits under new rules introduced at the beginning of this month.
However, the Children’s Society argues that from October next year the high withdrawal rate of benefits when families earn more or work longer hours means that the families affected will have to earn far more before they can recover the loss of free school meals.
According to the charity, a lone parent with three school aged children would need to earn an extra £88 per week, more than £4,500 a year, to make up for the loss of free school meals.
This means their earnings would need to increase from £7,500 to more than £12,000 a year before their overall income, including the value of FSM, reached the level it was at when their income was below £7,500.
The report shows that school meals cost an average of £1.88 in local authority catered primary schools, and £1.98 in secondary schools. An average across the two of £1.93 for each child would mean FSM are worth approximately £367 a year.
The Children’s Society claims that this loss is likely to be exacerbated as the family would also lose the additional entitlements that are provided locally as a result of the receipt of FSM, including uniform allowance and a reduction in the cost of using leisure facilities.
To address this problem, the Children’s Society is calling for the extension of free school meals to all children living in poverty, meaning a further 1.3 million children would be eligible. They estimate that this would cost the Government around £500 million per year.
Elaine Hindal of the Children’s Society said, ‘We have shown that there are literally hundreds of thousands of children living below the poverty line who aren’t getting a free school meal. There is no reasonable defence for this policy failure.
‘The Government has a unique opportunity to extend free school meals to all low-income working families, so that no child living in poverty misses out. This would be in line with the government’s aim to make work pay by paving the way for many families to return to employment and help lift them out of poverty.’
Children’s minister Sarah Teather said, ‘We remain totally committed to continuing to provide free school meals to children from the poorest families.
‘We are reforming welfare to get more people into jobs as that is the surest way of cutting poverty.
‘The reforms mean we will have to think hard about the best way to decide who is eligible for FSM so they continue to be targeted at those who need them the most. No plans have yet been set and we will be consulting later this year about the best way forward.’
- As part of its campaign, the Children's Society has also launched a petition.
