A MUM has revealed how she lost her daughter’s free school meals by working too hard, saying she was better off doing less.
Michaela Thomas, 30, extended her shifts by 90 minutes a day, only to be told she now earned too much for her child to receive free lunches.
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Ironically, Michaela, who works as a dinner lady at a school in Redbridge, East London, found much of the extra money she earned swallowed up by the cost of feeding her 11-year-old daughter between lessons.
By adding time onto her working day, her pay packet grew from around £700 a month to £1,050.
This took her over the income threshold to receive Universal Credit, meaning that she was no longer entitled to support with the cost of school meals.
The frustrated mum told The Mirror: “I should have just stuck with my hours as I’m paying the same amount anyway.
“I’m no better off at all if I’m honest.
“When I actually got it (the extra pay) I thought, ‘Yes, this is going to be brilliant’. Now I’ve lost all my money to packed lunches.”
She added that in her role as a dinner lady, she sometimes pays for less well-off kids’ lunches rather than deny them food.
But she feels that more people should be able to access the support, especially as the cost of living crisis bites.
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Michaela said: “Over the past few years, the amount of free school meals that come through has gone up.
“With the economy we’re in, we should be able to afford for them to have food.”
Around a quarter of English school children are eligible for free school meals, while the Department for Education say they have extended support “several times to more groups of children than any other government over the past half a century”.
However, Michaela suggested that all children should be entitled to free meals as part of their education, saying: “It ain’t like it’s a lot. It can be done.”
Free school meals are only available to children whose parents receive Universal Credit, Child Tax Credit or Jobseeker’s Allowance (among other benefits) beyond Year 3 age.
A full list of eligibility criteria can be found online on the Government’s website.
There are different qualifying criteria for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and if you’re unsure you can check with your local authority.
In England, kids on free school meals also qualify for support during the holidays through the Holiday Activity and Food Programme.
Families may also be entitled to food vouchers and help with essential bills through the Household Support Fund, eligibility for which can again be checked online or with your local council.
