The Case for Universal Free School Meals

NIAPN calls for the roll-out of Universal Free School Meals in response to the Department of Education’s consultation Review of Free School Meal and Uniform Grant eligibility.

NIAPN supports Universal Free School Meals. We join UNISON’s longstanding campaign, “Free School Meals for All”, and support the call for the Executive to work towards a “free-school day” as part of its Anti-Poverty Strategy.

“The idea of a ‘free school day’ was first suggested by school children who were growing up in poverty and reported that they chose not to study particular subjects, like art or music, because they required a parental contribution; younger children said they worried a lot about where their mother would find the money for their school’s non-uniform day or school trip. At every age, they thought school should be free – with no danger of stigma, shame or self-exclusion because of inability to pay. A range of studies have found that children growing up in poverty have their education damaged by worry about their family’s financial situation and are keenly aware of their socio-economic position which is probably why some of them came up with the idea of the free school day.” (Expert Panel, pg 40)

Northern Ireland is the only jurisdiction on these islands without a universal free school meal provision. In England, London has universal free school meals in state funded primary schools. In Scotland, children in primary 1 to 5 receive universal free school meals. In Wales, all children in full-time funded nursery and primary school receive universal free school meals. In the Republic of Ireland, universal free school meals in primary schools are being rolled out this year. It started in areas with higher levels of deprivation and now in 2025 is being expanded to all primary schools.

A report by the Institute for Social & Economic Research at the University of Essex on the impacts of universal free school meals evaluated the impact of four local authority free school meals schemes in London, where free school meals had been made available to children up to the age of 11. The research found that universal provision increased take-up amongst those already eligible under means-testing; reduced obesity prevalence; helped households with the cost of living; and improved reading test scores

In a systematic review of literature on the implementation of universal free school meals across school systems throughout the United States and Western Europe, the research “suggests that universal free school meals benefit students, particularly those who are food-insecure and/or near eligible for free meals in existing means tested school meal models. The majority of studies in the current review found that universal free school meals were associated with increases in participation and improved diet quality and food security, and conversely, were associated with either no change or improved BMI…. In the presence of strong nutrition guidelines, universal free school meals have multiple potential benefits for students and schools, and should be considered by countries not currently with this policy.”

Research into Sweden’s universal school lunch reform in the 1950s show “substantial long-term economic benefits of the program. It increased lifetime income by 3% for those exposed during their entire primary school period. Earlier, and thereby longer, exposure led to greater effects and children from poor households gained the most from the program, suggesting that it reduced socioeconomic inequalities in adulthood. Interestingly, effects were also found for children from less poor households, suggesting that poor childhood nutrition was a widespread phenomenon. The school lunch program also had other important benefits. It led to large and positive effects on height, early adult health, and educational attainment.”

Independent research into the Universal Free School Meals in London’s primary schools show that UFSM’s decrease the stigma students and their families feel related to free school meals and improve the relationship between families and schools. This is particularly where relationships were strained because of schools attempting to collect dinner debt.

Additionally, the increase uptake in school meals has decreased the cost of meals per child, most likely due to bulk purchasing. Furthermore, there is evidence that the cost of the administration of FSM (collecting parental forms, processing and verifying eligibility, to the schools filling out their paperwork, and collecting money from paying parents) is substantial.

Finally, there is a public health emergency in Northern Ireland, in that we desperately need a healthier society to take pressure off of the health service. Investing today in our children so that all children have access to a hot, good quality, healthy meal is evidenced to make a difference in different jurisdictions.

Through the Children Services Cooperation Act there is a Duty to co-operate to improve children and young people’s wellbeing – the Department of Education, Department of Health and the Department for Communities should work together to pool funding and support a phased roll-out of universal free school meals. This will take the onus off of a singular Department and show that there is Executive agreement to invest in the well-being of the children across Northern Ireland.

The problems with the current means testing of FSMs

The Department’s modelling shows that if the current eligibility criteria remain unchanged, the number of full-time pupils entitled to FSM and UG is likely to fall by 5% to 88,700 in 2025/26. This is at a time when child poverty rates are increasing and households are struggling to make ends meet, which shows that the criteria and eligibility is not fit for purpose.

Parents across Northern Ireland are struggling to afford the cost of sending their children to school with two thirds of parents citing uniforms (66%), school trips (46%) and school meals and drinks (32%) as causing the biggest financial challenge. Northern Ireland has the highest number of parents concerned with the cost of regular voluntary donations to the school fund with almost 1 in 3 (28%) saying this was a concern compared to a UK average of 15%. (Parentkind, 2024)

Research by the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People in 2017 found that school meals and snacks were 52% of the total education expenditure by parents and guardians and were the highest single educational cost they faced.

UNISON has reported that the Department for Communities has previously estimated that only 30% of children living in absolute poverty after housing costs are in receipt of free school meals. Whilst some children in absolute poverty who are not in receipt of free school meals may be eligible for them under the current criteria, the number of children not in receipt of free school meals raises concern that current eligibility criteria are not sufficient for those most in need.

There are significant issues with the migration over to Universal Credit within the past year, therefore, it can be assumed that many households who should meet the criteria for FSMs will be without. NIAPN supports the in-depth research and analysis from focus groups conducted by the Rural Community Network, Advice NI and the Women’s Regional Consortium, who have identified households in self-employment, particularly those with seasonal income, are hardest hit by the mechanisms of universal credit. 

The issues with Universal Credit for rural households must be a serious consideration for the Department as part of this consultation.  The result of the issues with Universal Credit for the self-employed may mean that many of these families will have issues with entitlement to Universal Credit and therefore out of access to much needed help with free school meals and school uniform grants.

NIAPN’s recommendations to the Review of Eligibility Criteria for Free School Meals and Uniform Grants:

1. Roll-out of Universal Free School Meals
2. As Universal Free School Meals are being rolled out, the threshold for those who are eligible for FSM’s must be increased to include all children living in relative poverty AFTER housing costs.
3. A free school meal entitlement must be an entire nutritious meal. Many parents report that the cost of the meals (main meal, fruit and vegetable, and a drink) in secondary schools is more than the FSM entitlement.
4. Uniform costs should be capped and the Uniform Grant should be increased to the full cost of a uniform.
5. The Department of Education should outline their action plan towards implementing a ‘free school day’ as part of the Anti-Poverty Strategy.
6. The Department of Education should work with the Department of Health and the Department for Communities to implement nutritious, free School Meals for all students.

Context of Child Poverty

Child poverty is rising. 24% of children in living in poverty in NI. NIAPN’s recent briefing on Child Poverty can be read here.

The combination of Welfare Reform, austerity measures and the cost-of-living crisis has increased poverty and the experience of hardship for children and their families across the North.

Welfare Reform

Particularly, the impact of the 2-child policy has been detrimental to households with 3 or more children. Across Northern Ireland 10% of children live in a family whose benefit payments are reduced by the two-child limit.  We know this policy pushes families into poverty by reducing benefits by up to £3,455 for every third or subsequent child born to a family after April 2017.  It is not surprising that the highest rates of child poverty are in the areas where the highest number of children are impacted by this unfair policy. 

Children in larger families disproportionately experience poverty. 37% of children in poverty are in households with three or more children, compared to 17% in households with two children and 16% in households with one child. Furthermore, the two-child limit to the child element in Universal Credit disproportionately impacts NI as the average family size in NI is larger than in Great Britain with 21.4% of families in NI having three or more children compared to 14.7% in the UK. (NI Human Rights Commission, 2019)

Austerity Measures – Education Cuts

Austerity measures in general, but cuts to education in particular have had devastating impacts on children and their families.

As Dr. Ciara Fitzpatrick has outlined: The Department for Education announced that the Holiday Hunger Scheme would no longer provide support to families (approx. 96,300) entitled to Free School Meals during holiday periods (£27 per child, every two weeks). This scheme was set up with cross-party support during the pandemic and pioneered a cash-first approach to provide families with extra support during a crisis. Research by Spyreli et al (2021) which studied the impact of Covid-19 on the food decisions of economically disadvantaged families in NI found that the Holiday Hunger Scheme, together with informal support offered through social circles was crucial for parents, particularly lone parents who needed to reduce costs and feed their family with a limited budget.

The ‘Extended Schools Programme’ which provides support to schools in disadvantaged areas to put in place activities to support children’s learning (which included schools running Breakfast Clubs) has been subject to budget cuts.   

A rapid response report detailing the consequences of the cuts to education for children and young people in Northern Ireland concluded: “the evidence presented strongly denotes the consequences that the current cuts to education will have on our most disadvantaged children. The schemes which have been removed sought to reduce inequalities and educational underachievement for our young citizens. If we do not urgently invest in education to alleviate the experience of being in poverty and to reduce the cost of the school day, we risk putting up further socio-economic barriers which will increase educational underachievement.”  The academics involved in the production of this report further concluded: “that the cuts would increase poverty, widen existing educational achievement gaps, further exacerbate NI’s mental health crisis and send Special Education Needs provision beyond the brink of collapse.”  

It is also important to recognise the cumulative impact of the public sector cuts across departments including communities, health, and education on the lives of women and their children.

Cost-of-Living Crisis

The Women’s Regional Consortium and Ulster University carried out detailed research with 250 women in Northern Ireland on the impact of the Cost-of-Living Crisis on their lives and families.  A research paper summarising the findings along with a shorter summary document and a topic summary specific to the costs of education all show the extreme hardship mothers are facing in coping with the cost of food, school  related costs and other essentials.

Feel free to use any of the above article for your own consultation response.

The Consultation on Free School Meals and Uniform Grant Eligibility closes Friday 14 February. Respond online or by emailing: foodinschoolsteam@education-ni.gov.uk