Of the 1,613 respondents, 41% were in favour of expanding free school meals to every child and 33% said only children in households earning less than the national minimum wage (£19,305 a year) should qualify. Around 6% of respondents said only primary school children should be eligible and 6% were not sure.
Free school meals are currently given to all infants in England (up to year 2). A letter, which was launched on by The Mirror and the National Education Union, urged new Prime Minister Liz Truss to ensure no children in England are left hungry. A report by the Food Foundation earlier this year found that as many as 2.6m children lived in households that struggled to access food.
Kevin Courtney, general secretary at the NEU, told The Mirror: “It is unacceptable that in 2022 providing children with enough food to eat is something that is still being argued over. Teachers and support staff see the difference a healthy school dinner makes.
"It is a simple fact that if children are arriving at school hungry they will not be able to concentrate and reaching their potential will be put further out of their grasp."