No free school meals for 70% of poorest kids

£74k wage ca cap blow to families

- JOHN STEVENS

SEVEN in 10 kids from families on Universal Credit can't claim free school meals and tight-fisted ministers have rejected calls to extend the provision.

In England, pupils whose families claim the benefit are only entitled to free school meals if they earn less than £7,400 a year after tax.

This threshold has been frozen since it was introduced in 2018.

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, it means 1.7 million pupils in England from families entitled to Universal Credit are not eligible for free lunches worth £460 per pupil a year.