The chef Jamie Oliver wants the UK government to extend free school meals to all children living in households on Universal Credit. The government said it would keep eligibility criteria(合格标准) under review. But how many pupils currently qualify?

In England and Wales, children aged 4 to 16 are eligible for free school meals if they live in a household which gets income-related benefits (such as universal credit) and has an annual income of less than £7, 400 after tax, not including welfare payments. But about 40% of universal credit claimants(申请者) have jobs. So you can receive the benefit, but earn more than the threshold(门槛), meaning your children don’t qualify for free school meals. The income cap is £7,920 in Scotland, and £14,000 in Northern Ireland. 

In 2022, around 1.9 million children were entitled to free school meals in England—22.5% of the student population. That represents a 9% increase from 2021, when 1.74 million pupils were eligible. In addition to this, another 1.25 million pupils receive free meals under the universal free school meal provision(规定) for infant schools. In Scotland, 80, 265 primary and secondary pupils (12%) qualify under the eligibility rules. Another 100,000 primary school pupils get the universal free meals given to younger children. Under the benefit and household income criteria, 100,000 pupils qualify in Wales (20% of the student population), and in Northern Ireland (30%).

According to poverty charity The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, across the UK, an estimated 4.3 million children live in what is called “relative poverty”. But only 2.3 million children currently get free school meals. Relative poverty is calculated by taking the median income—that’s the income where half of all households earn more and half earn less—and then looking at how many children live in households earning less than 60% of this. A household could earn below this threshold, but still not qualify for benefits which would equal free school meals.