Free school meal registrations rising as families struggle to feed their children

New data gathered in September estimates that as many as 900,000 children aged eight and above have been newly registered for FSM (Food Foundation, 2020).

It comes as separate research from the End Child Poverty coalition has revealed sharp rises in child poverty levels, including in the Midlands and across Northern cities (Hirsch & Stone, 2020).

There are now serious fears that rising child poverty will spark a food crisis for many families in the coming months. The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) has said this week that without government action, some children will go hungry.

Published by the Food Foundation as part of footballer Marcus Rashford’s on-going #EndChildFoodPoverty campaign, the FSM research estimates that 29 per cent of children are now claiming free meals – the equivalent of 2.2 million nationwide. Of these, it says that 42 per cent are newly registered, which equates to around 900,000 young people.