Free school meals

[Strawb1980]

Just had message from school: 'would you be interested in free breakfast and after school club in September'.
'Yes that would be great' I was about to text back.
Then another 'this is available if you're child is on free school meals'.
Also offering free summer activities for children on free school meals.
I work and I'm on a low income but still pay for my dc meals, breakfast and after school club would be a great help to me instead of relying on family to take/collect my dc whilst I'm working. Why do I feel that ppl working are often penalised for doing so?
AIBU to feel this way?

@Willyoujustbequiet

Yabu

Most families on fsm work. Your income cant be that low.

My friend is still entitled 4 years later from becoming a single parent and she's a teacher

How does that work? I am a single parent earning less than a teacher and I'm not entitled.

@DeflatedGinDrinker

You must do under 16 hours a week or be on UC. OP is on WTC.

I have always wondered how you manage to qualify for FSM so thank you for your post. I earn under the threshold but because I get wtc I don't qualify.

It amazes me that some people describe being in difficult situation from which they say they need extra help. They're reaction is not to blame the government for not extending help to them, but to blame people even worse off who already get some small amount of help.

They're reaction is not to blame the government for not extending help to them, but to blame people even worse off who already get some small amount of help.

I'd imagine its because its frustrating for a parent working full time seeing rare wraparound care places taken up by people who are not working, have a SAHP or are working only a few hours a week.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

They're reaction is not to blame the government for not extending help to them, but to blame people even worse off who already get some small amount of help.

I'd imagine its because its frustrating for a parent working full time seeing rare wraparound care places taken up by people who are not working, have a SAHP or are working only a few hours a week.

Who's fault us that though? The sahm or the government?

You're coming across as so judgemental - that's more damaging to your kids than not being able to get FSM 🤷‍♀️

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

Sounds like you're being deliberately short sighted out of resent and spight. What proportion of people who recieve FSM are not working at all? Do you even know? Do you know why these children get extra childcare provided? Do you know the purpose it serves for children who are heavily disadvantaged? Do you not think it's a good idea to break the cycle of poverty?

Look I dont disagree with it, I'm just explaining why people working full time might feel resentful if SAHPs or part time workers with children eligible for FSM choose to take up wraparound care places leaving not enough left for working parents on low incomes who are not eligible for FSM because they work full time. It sort of defeats the point of wraparound care, which is there to facilitate full time work.

The issue of course being that food provision is being mixed up with provision of wraparound care, to the detriment of low income full time workers who as a result miss out on the few places there are.

I'm not blaming the SAHP or part time worker I'm explaining why other parents feel frustrated by the system.

The point is that you are expecting some "help" for you and your child when presumably DC is not entitled to FSM. The very poorest children who will go hungry, unless some FSM is offered to them .Who can forget Marcus Rashfords campaign to highlight the need for all children to be fed from last year (.Is he now the head of the labour party as a Newspaper quipped last week?) There is probably a Cut Off line here and you may be borderline .Do you receive Payment for DC from your ex? YABU to assume all these parents dont work .Even if they do stay at home ,MH issues will most likely come into play when they have no food or are unable to cook it .Also the School provides a safe space for them to go to , A beacon in maybe what is a dark lonely and hungry life?Is it a childs fault that say a parent doesnt make good choices ,or are addicted to smoking or Alcohol ? Should a little girl or boy be going hungry in one of the wealthiest countries in the 21st Century?

Hi OP. Wow you are getting a bit of a slaughtering here, and I don't think that is fair. I am wondering if the Citizens Advice Bureau would be of any help to you if you are a single parent?
Because it might be that it would be better in your case if you didn't have the tax credits, but somethig like universal credit instead?

Ask the CAB if they have any of their volunteers who know about the different types of benefit - I am pretty certain that they must do, and then make an appointment with them, because if your approx £16,000 per annum is your sole income apart from child benefit, then it does seem as though you should be entitled to more than that. If you haven't got any regular money from your child's father and that isn't because he isn't named on your child's birth certificate (for whatever reason), and it isn't because he sadly died, then they might be able to point you in the right directions to get that sorted out too. It can't hurt to ask them as sometimes we think we know something, but it is outdated knowledge, or there were other conditions about it that we are just not aware of.

I do think that as a first world country it is disgusting that such things as food banks are even necessary, that not everyone has a roof over their head, that NHS hospitals should have to depend on charity for things like neonatal care equipment and scanners etc, that parents can't even afford to take a train to take their city child out into the countryside to see cows and sheep in fields, that schools are not funded for enrichment days out for their pupils to eg visit a farm to see cows being milked, visit a postal sorting office - we did that when I was a junior school child (1960s), and I found it very interesting - my parents didn't have to pay for that, or for when we visited a museum in the next town. I think that parents should be able to afford to take their
child/ren on a day out occassionally, even if they have a low wage coming into the household, but maybe by using some sort of vouchers, so that the selfish parents who would spend that money on cigarettes or alcohol, don't have that choice.

If people are struggling, even when they have a wage, then
maybe things like breakfast and after-school clubs should be subsidised for those who need them, but do not qualify for them being free.

Don't think ppl understand... I don't want fsm for my dc. All I was asking was why is everything for ppl on benefits? That's all... don't think its fair that I've been made out to be a horrible spiteful person cos I'm really not. No I would not like to see any child go hungry I just think its wrong the way things are done thats all

You can pay for childcare. Like everyone else who isnt below the poverty line.

FSM kids arent just worse off due to not always getting enough food at home. They are in the demographic who do worst at school, get less support at home, they need more support to life them out of that.

That may offend some FSM families. They are not all in that pattern. But many of them are. The extra support given to them isnt for childcare so their parent's can work. It's because these kids are the most likely to need the extra support. And I don't begrudge them it one bit. If that after school club can provide even just a few of them with the support and help they need to go further than they would without it, then it's money well spent.

You know these people sitting around doing nothing? How many are carer’s to disabled children, partners or parents? How many of them have disabilities themselves? How many are waiting for life changing surgery? How many work in sectors currently decimated as a result of covid?

You’re not a nasty person? You really need to dig a bit deeper, love.

How is she entitled? On a teacher's salary, she isnt entitled.
Is she a teaching assistant? Or some sort of teacher only working 1 day a week?

If she was entitled previously, even very briefly, she’d keep them even when earning above the threshold. I think you keep them until your child reaches the next stage of education?

@Strawb1980

Don't think ppl understand... I don't want fsm for my dc. All I was asking was why is everything for ppl on benefits? That's all... don't think its fair that I've been made out to be a horrible spiteful person cos I'm really not. No I would not like to see any child go hungry I just think its wrong the way things are done thats all

But they aren’t

Many people have said on here, they work and still receive certain benefits including FSM

You’re just pissed that you can’t

If you’re that bothered, quit your job, “sit around on your ass all day” and claim all the benefits you like

See how you cope

YABU for the attitude that all people entitled to FSM are just 'sat at home all day', that's a very ignorant attitude.

YA(also)BU for thinking that the school offering FSM pupils clubs is about helping parents out for childcare. They will have done this to give longer provision (and food!) to their most disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils: children who might not get much food otherwise.

YANBU in feeling that many low income families miss out on support they definitely need because the earning thresholds for things like FSM and pupil premium are SO low. I wish these schemes were expanded in a fairer way.

All I was asking was why is everything for ppl on benefits?

You’re on benefits! WTC is a benefit.

I can assure you that not everyone entitled to FSM is getting this.Where I live there is a breakfast club that is free to all the school but since covid has (rightly so) been prioritising keyworkers) everyone has to pay for after school club and summer play schemes were scrapped years and years ago because of lack of funds.

Please note that in my comments about wraparound care, I am not expecting free places. Just enough places at all.

In some areas (for example) there may only be 30 places in the wraparound care. The school may have 200 children. The school takes the view that children eligible for FSM must get priority for the wraparound places (often on the basis this guarantees those poorest children get breakfast before school, not unreasonable). However, these can mean that a working parent on a low income, who desperately needs the wraparound care (and would pay full price for it, if a space is available) finds the wraparound care full and can't get a space.

It's frustrating. The full time working parent is not expecting funded provision but not unreasonably, needs wraparound care, and sees spaces taken up by children who's parents do not work full time.

@Strawb1980

Don't think ppl understand... I don't want fsm for my dc. All I was asking was why is everything for ppl on benefits? That's all... don't think its fair that I've been made out to be a horrible spiteful person cos I'm really not. No I would not like to see any child go hungry I just think its wrong the way things are done thats all

People on benefits get help because they have less than other people. If you had phrased your OP differently, along the lines of 'why is the threshold for FSM so low?' or similar, you would have had a very different response. Not including the snidey comment about people sitting on their ass all day would also have helped your cause. Think about why you begrudge people help when they have less than you.

The context for my comments btw is that I live in an area with a huge shortage of childcare. There are simply not enough spaces, several schools in the area have bo wraparound at all, spaces at childminders are booked years ahead.

@Strawb1980

Don't think ppl understand... I don't want fsm for my dc. All I was asking was why is everything for ppl on benefits? That's all... don't think its fair that I've been made out to be a horrible spiteful person cos I'm really not. No I would not like to see any child go hungry I just think its wrong the way things are done thats all

Your judgemental comments and assumptions are what make you sound horrible and spiteful.

You’re still massively missing the point of these kinds of initiatives. Much like the free nursery hours they are not, primarily, about childcare. That is not their prime purpose.

@NoIDontWatchLoveIsland

Please note that in my comments about wraparound care, I am not expecting free places. Just enough places at all.

In some areas (for example) there may only be 30 places in the wraparound care. The school may have 200 children. The school takes the view that children eligible for FSM must get priority for the wraparound places (often on the basis this guarantees those poorest children get breakfast before school, not unreasonable). However, these can mean that a working parent on a low income, who desperately needs the wraparound care (and would pay full price for it, if a space is available) finds the wraparound care full and can't get a space.

It's frustrating. The full time working parent is not expecting funded provision but not unreasonably, needs wraparound care, and sees spaces taken up by children who's parents do not work full time.

It’s very likely to do with the funding.

I run a holiday playscheme, breakfast club and after school club (although we’re still not able to run as the school still isn’t allowing outside leases).

There are a lot of conditions that come with a lot of the funding. Especially for the before school stuff. Our breakfast club isn’t funded or set up as childcare at all - trying to explain that to some parents is hard as it looks and sounds like childcare, but that’s not its primary purpose:

I understand what you mean OP.
Both I and my partner work full time. This means we pay for 2xwrap around care and 1x full time nursery place. We obviously pay for everything and are just above the threshold for UC. Everything is very, very, tight and we have minimal disposable income.

We have a close friend who doesn’t work. She receives full UC for herself, housing, and 2 children. Free school meals, grants, a fully funded nursery place for her two year old, free holiday clubs. She gets child maintenance from both previous partners. Her disposable income is higher than ours. In fact it’s more than triple.

I don’t begrudge her this, or think her children should miss out on any of it at all. I know it’s there for a reason.
But I do, when exhausted and trying to scrape together enough change to go and buy the cheapest possible packed lunch money swear at the government’s system a bit.