For many families, the summer holidays mean more than just eight weeks away from school. It can also mean a sharp rise in food costs.
Susan Lilley, a single mother of two who is training to become a classroom assistant, said the weekly shop has become one of her biggest financial worries.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the families of 90,000 children eligible for free school meals received £27 per child each fortnight during school holidays.
They were axed by the Department of Education (DE) in March 2023 due to a lack of money, but a new bill introduced at Stormont could see holiday payments reinstated.
The then Permanent Secretary in Dr Mark Browne said axing the scheme was the most difficult decision he had to make.
Lilley, who received the grant during covid, said the support made a real difference.
Without it, she said she sometimes has to choose a less healthy, processed option for her children because it’s often cheaper than fresh foods.
“You want to have everything they need, everything that’s nutritious for them, but it’s impossible trying to get the quality of food, especially food and veg and protein, with the prices.
“My little girl would like strawberries and blackberries, but it’s a fortune, I was in this morning and I had to ask her to pick something else,” she continued.
“I can go and buy a 35p donut versus a £4.50 box of strawberries, but it won’t fill her the same, won’t give her the brain power for school. It will actually damage her more.”
She believes that politicians think people “will just manage”, but that “people aren’t managing”.
“Put your money where your mouth is. Children are our future. If they are being limited now how are they going to be the best they can be, to be productive and grow in to full, whole human beings and adults.”
“Nutrition affects them growing up, it can be a barrier to education.
“It’s important that everyone has access to healthy food, especially children.”
The new bill has been introduced in the assembly by Sinn Féin assembly member Danny Baker.
If it is passed, it would see the return of holiday food payments at an estimated annual cost of about £20m.
Children are eligible for free school meals if their family’s household income is below £15,390 a year.
Although UK food inflation has slowed, prices are continuing to rise, just at a slower rate.
