Free school breakfast for every child

[greyingunderneath]

Is this a good use of funding? I am not very well off financially but I don’t mind providing a slice of toast for my child and can’t say it will make any difference to me financially if they provide it instead.
I don’t know how much this is costing the government but it seems like a waste of resources to me.

Yet more dumming down.

Personally, I'd rather that schools provided the "mid morning" snack (usually at about 10am) and make it more substantial than a piece of fruit - some crackers, a yoghurt etc. As others have said, I think the chances are that the families/children who need it the most won't access it if it's only available before the school day starts. I also think it could help with children who have to be up early and don't find eating before school very easy. I was that child and as she gets older, DD is more and more that child. (Thank god, she's starting secondary now so I am just planning to send her "breakfast" to have at first break and before school she can have a small bowl of cereal or a smoothie or similar.)

Seeing as that is damaging for teeth, I don’t see how its an advantage.

Further encroachment on parental duties by the state under the guise of being helpful.

It has never been easier in the UK, from a historical perspective, to feed one’s own children than it is now.

@Lmnop22 I thought the point was that breakfasts were going to be offered for free? I’m not sure what you mean.
Oh hang on, do you mean that breakfast club fees (the fee for the time) will be put up to cover the cost of the “free” breakfast?

Actually that’s a good point - if free food is available for all, then surely more kids will come, and more staff will be needed

Actually you might be surprised at the number of DC who come to school hungry having not eaten since 5pm the night before. Their blood sugar dips and they have poor concentration. All DC should eat before learning. It's one of the few Labour policies I actually agree with.

Like previous PP, I agree that the state needs to step in for hungry children whose parents cannot be bothered to get up and feed their own kids.

But there's a small minority of parents who neglect their children and we're just sending these parents the message that this is OK, and will encourage them to stop the other stuff, like tooth-brushing, checking for headlice, dental appointments, eye tests.

Lots of posters are focussing on the merits of kids eating breakfast (undeniable) rather than the merits of rolling out a government-funded program in which breakfast is available to all students, irrespective of financial need.

Depending on how this is rolled out, the cost of this could be huge.

Schools cannot just order a few loaves of bread from Tesco each day, and put the children in a room with a toaster. They'll need adults to supervise and, most likely, be involved in food preparation. They'll need to think about allergens, who is doing the cleaning up, etc. If they are really serious about health and wellbeing (and not just getting a government subsidy for minimal effort), kids will need to be offered a range of items, not just Rice Bubbles and breakfast bars, and given adequate time to eat their food.

If this is too much for schools to resource, it might instead be provided by an external company. However, on occasion after occasion, we see a huge inflation of costs as soon a such services are put out to tender. Remember Covid lockdown, and the outrage over the contents of some food parcels delivered to homes to replace free school meals?

My point is that we might all agree on all kids having access to nutritious food, and that the state should help provide this for some kids. The question is whether it is desirable to have a policy in which free school breakfast is universal, with the tab ultimately picked up by taxpayers.

Given the huge financial challenges facing the UK, I'd like to see a properly-costed policy before giving this policy the thumbs up.

Regarding extra staff. It's not for the want of trying. They just can't get the staff. Nobody wants to do those hours as more often than not those that staff it have their own kids to sort.

At one of our schools locally, the head has been begging people to send their DC, even if they don’t need to. As ‘you go to free breakfast club’ has become a playground slur. The stigma is still there

@Lmnop22 but why does it need to be free? That’s the point. No one’s disagreeing with breakfast club. But taxpayers paying for it for every child is ridiculous

The school milk we had in the morning when I was a child was probably just as nutritious and a lot easier to dole out.

I have worked in schools my whole professional life as TA then a teacher.

The amount of children that come into school with out breakfast/lunch is huge.
There are children coming into schools in clothes that are so significantly small for them they break. As in tear apart / fall apart Infront of you.

The whole my taxes shouldn't be paying for that child's bread argument gives me such a swift eye roll I get nausea.

Some families simply do not have food at home.

Some families do not have money . At All.

Some families have no furniture not even carpets.

Some families are struggling to balance life -the mornings are manic and it's taken everyone's hard work to get a specific child into school that day.

Some families do not have the capacity to feed their child healthy balanced protein filled breakfasts but this does not meet a social care threshold.

Some people ( a minority) abuse/ neglect their children .

Many countries provide state funded meals to support children.
It blows my mind that in 2026 we begrudge children food who are victims to circumstances they were born into .

Many teachers already provide snacks in class for free out of their own wage to support young children get through the day.

Honestly I think the cost of living is getting worse and more families are struggling - of course our government should subsidise meals it's the best use of money. It guarantees children come to school as they know they'll get fed.keeps them nourished and gaining an education.

Do you consider all tbe people who have to start work earlier than you, or do we all just do the exact same job as you?

I think the quality of food is por and would rather feed my own kids. I am happy for kids who aren't being fed to get breakfast though. For some kids something is better than nothing.

The sad reality of life is - all the help in the world often struggles to reach the chaotic families.

The kids who need this breakfast most wont be sent in for it.

The biggest pool of kids who will take it up are the kids whos parents already pay to send their DC to breakfast club, and well off working parents who can't resist 30 minutes of free childcare.

I mean I tend to think that we ought to be offering more things as universal benefits/offers rather than fewer - saying "we ask everyone to pay taxes, with those who earn more paying more, but with everyone receiving something back from the state as well". So e.g. no cut off at 100k for childcare. Maybe we should even be offering after school club free as well, if we want plenty of parents to work. So I'm generally on board with this, usually combined with offering some sort of childcare from circa 8am.

I really don't think this poster was calling working parents like you who currently pay for breakfast club idle. I think it was the idea that there are kids out their missing out and not being fed and their parents claiming they couldn't afford to feed them, that those parents were a problem because how much does a loaf of bread cost.

Absolutely not. A working parent is at least contrbuting something in tax and productivity, even if most or even all of that is taken by childcare costs and subsidies. Nurseries employ people who are then also paying tax and gaining valuable skills. If you want to be a SAHP you cannot expect everypne else to fund it.

Nope, sorry. I was in the exactly same situation as you. I got up ten minutes earlier, had porridge ready, yoghurt, fruit, poached eggs take the same time to cook as a slice of toast. Went to work as a teacher, picked up kids at 5.30. I know every situation is different but we have to stop expecting other people to make our life choices easier...by which I mean having kids, not being a SP. I didn't plan that!

that is not available to all jobs

So many holier than thou "I feed my own child before school" mums here.

My child loves breakfast club with her friends and isn't forced to eat at a stupidly early time to accommodate my shifts. But to the parents that "lay the table the night before" crack on 😂

Schools already feed children who come in hungry, but by making it a universal offer there isn’t the barrier of embarrassment at accessing it which has to help.

I have had cases where a younger child has told me they have had no breakfast and when I check (discreetly!) with siblings they haven’t either but being older they are that bit more embarrassed to admit it.

If you’re talking about the free breakfast clubs, it’s less about feeding the kids and more about providing universal childcare to help working parents (for once). It’s actually the only labour policy so far we will benefit from, though our DC’s school isn’t free yet.

We both work FT so currently pay around £5 per day for breakfast club for 2 DC then a further £10 per day for after school club. Saving the £25 a week would help us. We don’t get UC so not eligible for the free school dinners.

That’s better.