Research involving the food aid work of 25 schools – primary and secondary, urban and rural – has shone a light on the extent of increasing food insecurity among families.
The University of Bristol study, which has been published in the British Educational Research Journal, found that most schools were supporting 15 to 20 families on a regular basis. However, several larger secondaries were supporting more than 40 families a week.
The food aid operations varied in size and structure. In some often smaller schools, it involved discreet food parcels given “under the radar” to parents and funded by staff donations. In others it consisted of larger scale, advertised regular provision with food supplied by large supermarkets and food waste charities.
Examples included a free “help yourself pantry” in the form of a shed next to the playground and a weekly stall set up at school pick-up time.
And it does not stop at food – some of the schools have also been providing clothes, shoes, and cleaning products to families in need.
Schools in the study have been driven to offering food aid quite simply because of the desperate situation many families are finding themselves in.
The report states: “Poverty, financial distress, and destitution are all motivating factors for why staff opened food bank and pantries and emerged as key themes.”
Indeed, one headteacher in the study said schools are now “literally the fourth emergency service”. Another support worker added: “We’re seen as the universal service … because other services aren’t there anymore.”
A PTA chair, who opened a “free pantry” in a shed next to the school’s playground, cited growing poverty, increasing food insecurity and the cost-of-living crisis: “There are families in our school who are not eating between Friday afternoon and Monday morning,” she added.
Schools in the research were based in cities including London, Liverpool, Birmingham and Leicester, as well as smaller towns in urban, rural and coastal locations.
In order to take part in the study, the school had to currently be providing free or heavily discounted food to families on a regular basis, supporting more than five families, and be storing food on the school site. The work also had to be institutionalised – i.e. deliberately and knowingly adopted by the school and not done on an ad-hoc or temporary basis.
The study states: “Data suggests that food aid in schools is rapidly becoming a ‘normal’ part of how schools serving low-income communities support families.”
In May, the on-going COVID Social Mobility and Opportunities (COSMO) study found that 1 in 10 young people were living in food insecure households during Covid.
And government figures earlier this year showed a rise in the number of children living in relative poverty – to 4.2 million – as well as a rise in food insecurity: 21% of children who live in relative poverty now also live in food insecure households, a rise of 4% in a year.
Furthermore, the Trussell Trust, which runs a network of food banks across the UK, has forecast that 600,000 people will use its services between December and February this winter. The charity is expecting to provide more than one million emergency food parcels – which would be up from 904,000 last winter.
A report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, meanwhile, warns that despite 30% of families on Universal Credit being considered “food insecure”, 69% of families on Universal Credit are not eligible for FSMs – this equates to 1.7 million children.
Indeed, a notable finding in the new study is that many families who are struggling are just outside eligibility for free school meals, including many living on Universal Credit.
One support worker said: “It’s those on the borderline, that actually, they can’t get free school meals, because they’re earning £10 more than just above the threshold – so with everything else is going to happen, they’re not going to be able to manage.”
The study’s lead author Dr William Baker, senior lecturer at the University of Bristol School of Education, said: “After years of austerity and cutbacks, rocketing food prices means millions of parents can’t afford to feed their kids or heat their homes. Schools see the consequences of this every day, and many are responding by providing food to families through their own food banks and pantries.
“The project started locally but soon became national when it became clear these issues were widespread; it clearly shows how food support systems within schools are now well-organised and entrenched. Given the current situation, initiatives like food banks in schools are likely here to stay.
“It’s striking and concerning how normalised and embedded the food aid had become within schools in England.”
- If your school supports families with food through a pantry, food bank or something similar, Dr Baker is very keen to speak to you. He can be contacted at will.baker@bristol.ac.uk
- To read the study, Schools and food charity in England,which has been published in the British Educational Research Journal, visit https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3931