The number of children who cannot afford lunch has risen in more than half of England’s state schools as the cost-of-living crisis pushes more families into poverty, research suggests.
In a survey of teachers commissioned by leading education charity the Sutton Trust, 52% said there was an increase in pupils going hungry in the autumn term. That figure rises to 59% in the most deprived areas, compared with 44% of those in the least deprived.
The charity says children just outside free school meal eligibility are increasingly going hungry. And it criticised the Government for ignoring pleas to widen eligibility for free school meals in its November budget.
