More than a third of UK school support staff helping pupils pay for food – survey

One teaching assistant struggling to pay his own bills said: ‘There’s no incentive to do this job apart from the love of education and the pupils.’ Photograph: Peter Lopeman/Alamy

School support staff are dipping into their own pockets to help pay for food, stationery and uniforms for needy pupils, while skipping meals and taking on multiple jobs to pay their own bills, a union survey has found.

The poll by Unison revealed that teaching assistants (TA), catering and cleaning workers, librarians and sports coaches, who are among the lowest-paid workers in the sector, are struggling to pay their own bills, but still stepping up to support pupils.