Interview: Angus Holford
Catherine Gaunt
Friday, September 28, 2012
Angus Holford, author of a new study, Take-up of Free School Meals: price effects and peer effects, published by the Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex.
What are the main findings to come out of the study?
I looked at ways to increase take-up of free school meals (FSMs). I was surprised to see that when school dinners were made available free to all children aged five to eight in five areas of Scotland in 2007, the biggest drop in non-participation was among the group already registered for FSMs, who weren't being targeted by this scheme.
I thought this could be because these children no longer needed to reveal their low-income status. However, I also found this rise in take-up for schools with anonymised or cashless payment for school meals, where this concern shouldn't matter. I show that take-up of FSMs rose because take-up rose among the unregistered group. This applies throughout Scotland. In a typical school a 10 percentage point rise in peer group take-up would reduce non-participation by almost a quarter.
Why do you think families are reluctant to claim free school meals, despite the obvious financial and nutritional benefits?
The most obvious reason is the stigma of revealing your family's financial status by claiming FSMs. In addition, as many schools sit those eating school dinners apart from those eating packed lunches, a low overall take-up of school dinners stigmatises those eating a FSM by forcing them to eat separately from their friends. Parents may also not know how to apply, and even if registered, may be deterred from taking them by their concerns about the taste or quality of school lunches.
What can schools do to encourage take-up of free school meals and de-stigmatise them?
Getting more children to eat school dinners overall is a great way to encourage take-up of FSMs. This is both because children would rather eat with their friends, and because they take greater notice of the actions of their friends and classmates than the claims of teachers or caterers.
This could be achieved by targeting price reductions or universal entitlement at the youngest year-groups. This strategy would get children used to school dinners early on, which is easier than changing an ingrained routine, and also avoid 'singling out' those from low-income households, whose behaviour we're really targeting.
Schools can also use cashless or anonymised catering systems to make sure that those taking free school meals can't be identified as such, and should allow all children in the same class to eat together.
