Press release
A new report – ‘Too young to count’ – reveals that, despite rising hunger and poverty, most children in childcare are excluded from free meal support.
Nearly 300,000 young children in poverty will miss out on free meals in nurseries and childcare settings, according to a new report. Despite government plans to expand Free School Meals (FSM) to all Universal Credit (UC) households from September 2026, fewer than 4% of children in formal childcare will receive a free meal compared with 30% of pupils in schools.
The report by Bremner & Co, supported by The Food Foundation, Impact on Urban Health and the Early Years Food Coalition, exposes a hidden crisis in early years food provision.
While the FSM expansion coming next year is a welcome step for school-aged children, this research shows that early years children are being left behind. The report shows that 290,000 children under-five living in UC households and attending nurseries, pre-schools or childminders will still not qualify for a free meal.
“The children who need nutritious food the most are the least likely to get it,” said Dayna Brackley, Partner at Bremner & Co. “We are facing a situation where providers see more children arriving hungry, but without the means to feed them.”
Key findings
- 290,000 disadvantaged young children will miss out on free meals despite attending nurseries, pre-schools or childminders.
- Free meal eligibility in childcare will rise only slightly under the new policy, from 24,000 to 39,000 – fewer than 4% of the >1.1 million children in formal childcare.
- By contrast, nearly 30% of pupils in schools will receive a free meal after the FSM expansion, exposing a stark disparity between early years and school-aged children.
- There is no dedicated government funding for meals in early years settings, unlike school food, meaning settings have to feed eligible children out of their own pocket.
- Families are struggling to provide healthy food at home, with 17% of households with under-fours experiencing food insecurity.
The growing gap
From September 2025, children as young as nine months in working families are entitled to 30 hours of free childcare a week. But most of these children will still not be eligible for a free meal because of unfair rules on setting type, attendance and registration.
The research shows that policy design, not just funding, is driving inequality. To qualify for a Free Early Years Meal, a child must:
- Attend a specific type of state-maintained nursery
- Be present both before and after lunch
- Be registered by a parent or carer through a formal application process
These extra barriers mean that even where families meet income and benefits-related criteria, most young children remain excluded.
Call to action
The report urges government to act now to prevent thousands of young children from going hungry in childcare. Recommendations include:
- Extending free meals to all children in UC households, regardless of the type of childcare setting they attend.
- Removing unfair rules such as the requirement a child attends both before and after lunch to receive a meal.
- Introducing automatic registration so no entitled child misses out.
- Providing dedicated funding to childcare providers, so they are not expected to feed hungry children without resources.
Good nutrition in the early years is fundamental to children’s health, development and life chances. With 36% of families with their youngest child under five living in poverty, the report warns that failure to act will deepen inequalities and undermine the government’s ambition to give every child the best start in life.
Read the report:
Support for ‘Too young to count’
“No child should go hungry because of the type of childcare they attend or the paperwork their parents manage to complete. Extending free meals to all children in Universal Credit households and making enrolment automatic is a simple, fair and cost-effective step that will transform lives by lifting thousands out of poverty. Good nutrition in the early years is essential for health, development and giving every child the best start in life – no matter their background. We must build on the first steps that our government has taken and ensure that the children who need support most are no longer left behind” – Simon Opher MP (Stroud)
“It is astonishing that in 2025, so many of our youngest children are missing out on free meals simply because of where they are cared for. It makes no sense that a family could have one child in Reception receiving a free school meal while a younger sibling in full-time nursery goes without. Ministers must consider this disparity and take action to ensure every child has access to a healthy meal, no matter the setting or the paperwork involved” – Sharon Hodgson MP (Washington and Gateshead South), Chair of All-Party Parliamentary Group on School Food
“It is truly shocking that so many young children are going to nursery and preschool with an empty stomach. Any measures to alleviate child hunger should be welcomed, and a hot meal at lunch time is the best way to do so. I am therefore urging the Government to review its current policy on free meals for young children and to update parliament in due course” – Jess Brown-Fuller MP (Chichester)
“Nearly 300,000 disadvantaged under-fives in early years are being written off from the free meals they deserve because of arbitrary rules about setting type and attendance. Hunger does not start once a child reaches school, and the current free meals policy restrictions condemn babies and toddlers to start life at a disadvantage that could have been prevented. Ministers must review the policy and work with the sector to ensure that every child in need, regardless of age or setting, can access a nutritious meal each day” – Neil Leitch OBE, CEO of the Early Years Alliance
“A child’s earliest years set the course for their long-term health and wellbeing. Whilst we whole-heartedly welcome the expansion of free meals for school children in households receiving Universal Credit, this report reveals that too many families with young children who are furthest from health equity remain locked out of the support they need. If we are serious about giving every child the best start in life, we must ensure that they can access healthy and nutritious food in every early years setting” – Peter Babudu, Executive Director, Impact on Urban Health
“This report underscores the consequences of a system built on inequality, and it is within government’s power to fix it. It is unacceptable that nearly 300,000 young children in poverty are being denied a nutritious meal simply because of how our early years system is designed and funded. Access to free meals should not depend on the type of nursery a child attends or the paperwork parents manage to complete. We need urgent action to make sure all children, regardless of setting or family income, have access to healthy food, quality care and the opportunity to thrive. If we truly believe that every child deserves the best start in life, we must treat early education and childcare as part of our national infrastructure and fund it fairly” – Sarah Ronan, Director, Early Education and Childcare Coalition
“Early Years Nutrition matters so much and we’ve seen some incredible changes from the Government happening in this sector recently, which gives me such hope. Included in this, is the expansion of Free School Meals to all children in households on Universal Credit – a fantastic step forward. However, at present, children in Early Years settings (and at an age when eating patterns start to develop and the food they eat really forms the foundations of their life-long health) won’t have the same access to Free Early Years Meals due to, essentially what are admin/policy issues! This must change. Supporting nutrition for young children (0-5 years) via childcare settings can and will have a huge impact on reducing health inequalities at this vital age, and also on ‘giving every child the best start in life’, which is the Government’s own aim. Starting with improving access AND nutrition via early years settings is really a no-brainer for the government” – Charlotte Stirling-Reed, The Baby & Child Nutritionist
“It makes no sense that there is a universal entitlement to free school meals for children when they reach Reception, but meals for children in nursery are a lottery based on the times and type of provider a child attends. Nor is it fair or consistent that state nurseries are required to provide free meals without receiving the funding to do so, especially when providers are being told that meals and consumables are chargeable extras – and at the same time, that they must be voluntary so as not to prevent economically disadvantaged families from accessing early education for their children. Healthy meals are in integral part of children’s learning in the early years – for learning about nutrition and health, self-care skills, social interactions, fine motor skills and more. Clearly, funding for food in the early years should be an integral part of the funding formula and we hope government includes that in its forthcoming funding review” – Beatrice Merrick, Chief Executive of The British Association for Early Childhood Education
“It is a huge oversight from Government that while they have taken the positive step to extend Free School Meals to all school children whose families are on Universal Credit, there are still nearly 300,000 vulnerable toddlers living in Universal Credit households who are missing out. This needs to be urgently rectified if the government is to prove it is serious about giving children the best start in life and raising the healthiest generation of children ever. It is vital that we invest in good nutrition in the early years in order to help tackle widespread health and diet inequalities from a young age” – Dr Hannah Brinsden, Head of Policy and Advocacy, The Food Foundation
“It’s unacceptable that so many hundreds of thousands of children are missing out on free early years meals. It is a massive injustice to our youngest children at such a critical point in their physical and educational development, and the opposite of giving them the ‘best start in life’. It’s quite perverse to have universal infant free school meals whilst our youngest infants face a postcode lottery based on whether places are available locally in state-maintained settings or not. It is upsetting and unfair for parents, especially those who meet the criteria for eligibility but whose children are in the wrong type of setting, or don’t attend for enough hours a day to access a healthy lunch. If the government wants to succeed in its mission to reduce poverty and create the healthiest ever generation, then these rules need to change now” – Barbara Crowther, Children’s Food Campaign Manager, Sustain
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