Young people are not benefitting fully from free school meals

Usually this was because the parents were in receipt of Working Tax Credits, whilst in other cases the family's immigration status meant they had no recourse to public funds.

Speaking at a conference on food and poverty, the academics also explained that children's access to and experiences of school meals are also determined by variable school policies and practices. Drawing on family case studies and young people's accounts, it was found some children had positive experiences while others reported going hungry, social exclusion, stigma and shame.

The presentation took place at King's College London, in the first-ever national research conference on household food insecurity - a quickly growing field of research.

Dr Rebecca O'Connell, Dr Abigail Knight and Professor Julia Brannen's discussion considers how national and school policies may better protect children's health and social inclusion and reflects upon the wider relationship between state, family and the role of food in children's wellbeing.

Dr O'Connell also spoke in a panel event exploring the re-emergence of hunger and rise of food banks in the UK.

Food and Poverty 2018 takes place from 16 - 17 April at King's College London.

The research is funded by the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) /ERC grant agreement n° 337977]

Media contact

Rowan Walker, UCL Media Relations
rowan.walker@ucl.ac.uk
+44 (0)20 3108 8516

Links

• Food in Hard Times
• View Dr Rebecca O'Connell' research profile
• View Dr Abigail Knight's research profile
• View Professor Julia Brannen's research profile
• Read the IOE Blog 'Greater entitlement to free school meals would reduce stigma, shame - and hunger'
• Thomas Coram Research Unit
• Department of Social Science

Image

U.S. Department of Agriculture via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)