Labour has today said its commitment to delivering free breakfast
clubs in primary schools will save parents over £400 a year and
cut almost half a million days of school absence.
For parents who already pay for alternative before-school
childcare, such as childminders, Labour's funded breakfast clubs
could cut the cost by up to £50 a week, delivering savings of
almost £2,000 across a school year.
,
Labour's Shadow Education Secretary, hailed Labour's breakfast
clubs plan as the first step towards delivering a transformation
in childcare which supports families from the end of parental
leave to the end of primary school.
Labour's fully funded breakfast clubs will be rolled out across
all primary schools in England, expanding significantly from the
Conservatives' plans which reach just one in every seven primary
schools, leaving thousands of children missing out every day on
the support to help them learn.
Breakfast clubs are a lifeline for parents: a quarter of
top-level professionals report that they needed breakfast clubs
to help juggle childcare, while nearly a third of public sector
managers and office workers found them essential to get to work
on time. They also support parents working shifts who start
early.
In addition to providing vital childcare for parents, Labour
analysis shows breakfast clubs could also cut 450,000 days of
school absence among primary school pupils.
School attendance has been described as a national crisis as the
Conservatives have allowed the number of children not attending
to skyrocket without a plan to get children back to
class.
, Labour's Shadow Education Secretary,
said:
“Families' childcare needs don't end when their kids leave
nursery: that's why we'll put free breakfast clubs in every
English primary school.
“We'll fund our clubs by clamping down on tax dodgers and save
hardworking parents over £400 every year.
“Breakfast clubs are proven to improve kids' behaviour and
grades, and get those regularly missing class back into school –
giving them a great start to their day and getting them ready to
learn.”
Ends.
Notes to editors:
- Breakfast clubs could save parents an estimated £423 /
year
In 2014 Kelloggs estimated the median cost of attending
a school-based breakfast club to be £1.68 equivalent to
£2.23 in 2024 adjusted for inflation.
- If a child attends on all 190 school days a year this
generates a saving of £423.03.
- Source: Kelloggs An Audit of School Breakfast
Club Provision in the UK: A report by Kellogg's
Inflation adjustment in line with ONS CPIH
- Delivering breakfast clubs across all primary schools could
cut 450,555 days of school absence.
Estimate is based on: “Attendance at school also improved for
children in breakfast club schools resulting in about 26
fewer half-days of absence per year for a class of 30.”,
applied to primary school pupil numbers and anticipated
uptake of breakfast clubs.
- Source of 26 half-days: Crawford et al
2019 evaluation of the Magic Breakfast, breakfast
programme
- “A quarter of top level professionals admitted they needed
breakfast clubs to help juggle childcare, with nearly a third
of public sector managers and office workers using the clubs as
a life line to get to work on time.” https://www.kelloggs.co.uk/en_GB/press-release/school-breakfast-clubs.html
- Number of Primary Schools: DfE Schools Pupil and their
Characteristics 2024
- Conservatives' plans reach just one in seven primary
schools – 2,500 schools in National School Breakfast programme,
assuming all primary this is approximately 1 in 7 of the 16,764
primary schools in England.
- Breakfast clubs could save £50 a week for parents: “nearly
20 per cent of parents claiming they save more than £50 every
week by sending their children to breakfast
clubs.” https://www.kelloggs.co.uk/en_GB/press-release/school-breakfast-clubs.html
