Child Poverty Strategy: Food Active response

10 Dec 2025 Child Poverty Strategy: Food Active response

The Government’s new Child Poverty Strategy vows to directly protect children and families facing poverty and food insecurity, combining a range of both previously announced and new policies, including the removal of the two-child benefit cap, free school meal expansion, increased funding for breakfast clubs in primary schools and more.

 Key measures related to improving children’s health and food security include:

• Removal of the two-child limit on benefit payments (so all children in larger families receive the child element of Universal Credit)
• Expansion of free school meals to all children in households receiving Universal Credit
• Increased funding for free breakfast clubs in primary school (from 60p to £1 per pupil)
• Uplift to the value of the weekly Healthy Start payments by 10% (£4.25 to £4.65)
• £600 million investment in the Holiday Activities and Food programme over the next three years
• Review and update of the School Food Standards, to raise the quality of school meals and transform school food culture

In addition, the expansion of Best Start Family Hubs and increased investment into infant feeding services will offer broader social support to families. The strategy also confirmed the Crisis Resilience Fund, which is replacing the Household support fund from April 2026, will aim to reduce reliance on food parcels and enable communities to better deal with crises in the long-term, reducing dependence and repeat need.

Food Active Programme Lead, Nicola Calder, said: 

“The new Child Poverty Strategy sets out measures that will directly support families and tackle food insecurity, in particular expanding free school meals to all children in households on Universal Credit, funding free breakfast clubs for primary-age pupils, and increased Healthy Start payments. However, there are many structural barriers that remain that must be addressed if we are to improve health outcomes for children and families across England. In addition, these new measures must be rigorously monitored and evaluated to drive meaningful change, and to ensure accountability.”

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