The Food Foundation Podcast Pod Bites: Child Poverty - are we failing?
Dec 12, 2025
Explore the new child poverty strategy, aimed at tackling food insecurity and bridging opportunity gaps. Hannah Brinsden highlights the critical role of cross-sector collaborations, involving communities and businesses. Food and nutrition take center stage, with commitments to free school meals and updated support measures. Discover the implications of rising infant formula prices and the launch of a new crisis resilience fund. Lastly, Hannah stresses the need for long-term policy action to ensure every child is nourished and ready to thrive.
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Scale Of Child Poverty And Food Insecurity
- Around 4.5 million children in the UK live in poverty, roughly one in three children.
- About 15% of households with children experience food insecurity, showing urgent need for action.
Strengthen And Expand Nutritional Safety Nets
- Strengthen nutritional safety nets like free school meals, improved school food standards, breakfast clubs and Healthy Start access.
- Review and expand these commitments over time to ensure equitable, nutritious access for eligible children.
Make School Food More Accessible Immediately
- Introduce auto-enrolment for free school meals and update school food standards to ensure eligible children get nutritious meals immediately.
- Provide long-term planning and resources for holiday activity and food programs and extend Healthy Start eligibility to match free school meals.