SCHOOL holidays, particularly the endless ones of summer, offer endless opportunities for fun and relaxation, not to mention family vacations in sunny coastal resorts at home or abroad. For many families, however, the reality is considerably less palatable. Authoritative reports speak of the crisis that envelops these households during the holidays, when school kitchens are shut.
An All-Party Parliamentary report from Westminster in 2017 warned that going hungry in the school holidays was a growing problem for up to three million children across the UK. The Trussell Trust says its food banks are accustomed to increased demand for emergency food during the vacations from families reliant on free school meals during term time.
There is much to commend in the report to the Scottish Government by the Poverty and Inequality Commission, which recommends an extra cash benefit during school holidays that at least matches the equivalent costs of school meals. It urges a co-ordinated package of school-holiday support for low-income families and more holiday clubs offering nutritious food for children.
The report is a humane response to a problem that is, all too often, invisible, or at least overlooked. Pupils spend a quarter of their year not in school, depriving them of free meals and breakfast clubs. Many parents go hungry in order to feed their children during these periods.The Scottish Government has already allocated substantial extra funds to address the issue of school holiday food insecurity.
Some questions pose themselves. What would the sporadic new benefit mean in terms of workload for whichever hard-pressed body has to administer it? How exactly would the new measures be paid for? Would struggling middle-class families be eligible?
Generally, however, the recommendations are a useful step towards realising the Scottish Government’s desire to make food banks a thing of the past.
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