More free school meals part of child poverty battle - PM

The expansion of free school meals is a “down payment” on child poverty, the Prime Minister has said.

- Eleanor Busby, Caitlin Doherty and Nina Lloyd

Charities and campaigners have urged the Government to axe the two-child benefit cap to ease child poverty as ministers set out plans to expand free school meals to all pupils in England in families on universal credit.

Asked whether he would go further and abolish the welfare limit, Sir Keir Starmer said: "I would say this is a down payment on child poverty.”

The Prime Minister added that he was “determined” to drive down child poverty and identify its root causes.

Currently, households in England on universal credit must earn below £7,400 a year (after tax and not including benefits) to qualify for free school meals.

More than one in four pupils in England are now eligible for free school meals, the latest figures show.

An additional 77,700 children became eligible for free school meals over a year, according to data published by the Department for Education (DfE).

Eligibility for free school meals stood at 25.7% of all pupils in January this year, the equivalent of 2.17 million children - up from 24.6%, or 2.09 million, in January 2024, the data shows.