Giving students free breakfast isn’t just right – it’s the smart to do
The Four Horsemen of the Education Apocalypse are galloping towards our children. Lost learning, a mental health crisis, safeguarding hazards and, now, a potential loss in lifetime earnings of £40,000, according to some studies.
The National Foundation for Education Research estimates that Year 2 pupils are already two months behind where they should be in terms of academic attainment. The gap between the “haves” and “have nots” has widened, leaving disadvantaged students further and further behind.
This is why schools need to open sooner rather than later. Nothing will be more important than the £1.3billion catch-up programme to help pupils with lost learning, mental health and general wellbeing. But another key initiative – investing in school breakfasts – would make a huge difference.
It’s not just the right thing to do – it’s the smart thing to do. Investing in school breakfasts is a win-win for the Government. It is an essential tool to rebuild our kids’ futures after the coronavirus crisis – tackling classroom hunger and helping children catch up on missed learning as well as generating long-term economic benefits. The upcoming Spring Budget is a perfect platform for the Chancellor to make this announcement.
Existing evidence shows that regular, healthy school breakfasts boost children’s energy, concentration and behaviour leading to improvements in academic attainment, particularly for disadvantaged children who might have otherwise started the day hungry.
New research on school breakfasts, published by the respected Pro Bono Economics, in partnership with Magic Breakfast, has spelled out the economic benefits of this improvement in academic attainment.
The results are remarkable. Providing a Year 2 pupil with just one year of free school breakfasts has the potential to generate approximately £9,000 in long-term economic benefits, largely as a result of increased lifetime earnings. According to the research, every £1 spent on the programme could generate more than £50 in benefits. It’s excellent value for money.
Offering school breakfasts to children at risk of food insecurity is an investment that will pay dividends. As the Pro Bono Economics report states, children with access to a school breakfast provision achieve higher Key Stage 1 results. This leads to higher GCSE results, higher A-level results and higher lifetime earnings. As much as 44 per cent of these benefits will go to the Government through increased tax revenue and reduced public services costs.
To make the breakfast provision long-term and sustainable, it should be underpinned by legislation. There are around 298,000 pupils in Year 1 with “high levels of disadvantage in England”. Providing all of these students with free breakfasts would generate “total long-term economic benefits of £2.7 billion” because of increased earnings and reduced public services costs (related to truancy, exclusions and special education needs).
Moreover, the upfront investment is already in the Treasury’s coffers. School breakfasts are currently funded by the Coca-Cola Tax which is earmarked for programmes benefiting children. The tax raises around £340m per year – well in excess of what is required to cover the costs of the National School Breakfast programme – and of which half is unaccounted for.
This research couldn’t have come at a better time, as funding for the Government’s National School Breakfast Programme is scheduled to end this summer.
With such compelling evidence in support of a school breakfast programme, the Department for Education should continue to fund this provision and scale up support to the approximately 8,700 schools in England with high levels of disadvantage.
City A.M.’s opinion pages are a place for thought-provoking views and debate. These views are not necessarily shared by City A.M.