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Take-up of Free School Meals: Price Effects and Peer Effects

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  • Angus Holford

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="ecca12147-abs-0001"> 29% of the 1.4 million eligible children do not participate in the UK's Free School Meals programme. Like other welfare benefits, take-up of free school meals is affected by stigma and lack of information. This paper uses a fixed-effect instrumental variables strategy to evaluate the role of peer-group participation in overcoming these barriers. Identification of endogenous peer effects is achieved by exploiting a scheme that extended free school meal entitlement to all children in some areas. Results show that a 10 percentage point rise in peer-group take-up reduces non-participation by 3.3–4.0 percentage points, or between 29% and 35%.

Suggested Citation

  • Angus Holford, 2015. "Take-up of Free School Meals: Price Effects and Peer Effects," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 82(328), pages 976-993, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:econom:v:82:y:2015:i:328:p:976-993
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/ecca.2015.82.issue-328
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    Cited by:

    1. Borbely, Daniel & Gehrsitz, Markus & McIntyre, Stuart & Rossi, Gennaro, 2024. "Does the provision of universal free school meals improve school attendance?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    2. Altindag, Duha T. & Baek, Deokrye & Lee, Hong & Merkle, Jessica, 2020. "Free lunch for all? The impact of universal school lunch on student misbehavior," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    3. Agossadou, M. Arsene J. & Valizadeha, Pourya & Nayga Jr., Rodolfo M., 2025. "Impact of not Extending Universal Free School Meals on Households’ Purchase Composition, Diet Quality, and Food Insecurity," 2025 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2025, Denver, CO 360889, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Julie Janssens & Natascha Van Mechelen, 2017. "Who is to Blame? An Overview of the Factors Contributing to the Non-Take-Up of Social Rights," Working Papers 1708, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    5. Yaru Chen & Xiao Han & Siyao Lv & Boyao Song & Xinye Zhang & Hongxun Li, 2022. "The Influencing Factors of Pro-Environmental Behaviors of Farmer Households Participating in Understory Economy: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Deokrye Baek & Yongjun Choi & Hong Lee, 2019. "Universal Welfare May Be Costly: Evidence from School Meal Programs and Student Fitness in South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-18, March.
    7. Ha Trong Nguyen & Huong Thu Le & Luke B Connelly, 2021. "Who's declining the “free lunch”? New evidence from the uptake of public child dental benefits," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 270-288, February.
    8. Gagliano, Katrina M. & Yassa, Monica O. & Winsler, Adam, 2023. "Stop the shame and the hunger: The need for school meal program reform," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).

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