Ensuring every child has enough to eat at school is a moral imperative. It is also a benefit to wider society. A PwC study, seen exclusively by the Evening Standard and our sister paper, The Independent, finds that extending free school meals to all children in poverty in England would amount to economic benefits of £2.5 billion over 20 years.
The reasoning is simple. The positive impacts for the individual are substantial — greater education attainment, stronger mental and physical health, as well as productivity improvements. This drives the economic benefit, meaning that for every £1 invested by Government, £1.38 would be returned.
