Fact File: Insights on Child Morning Hunger

The factors leading to morning hunger are varied and complex – yet children who are offered a school breakfast typically have better outcomes short-term and long-term. The facts and figures included below detail some of the benefits of Magic Breakfast, alongside the number of children and families affected by poverty and other barriers to learning.

Food Insecurity

4 million

children live in households that have experienced food insecurity.

81%

of our partner schools believe that child hunger has increased in their school community in the past year, according to our annual school survey.

Magic Breakfast offers a school breakfast to

200,000 children

every morning working in hundreds of schools daily, with more schools being added throughout 2024.

Poverty

Nine pupils

in a classroom of 30 are living in poverty in the UK.¹

90%

of our partner schools believe that poverty has increased in their school community in the past year, according to our annual school survey.²

88%

of our partner schools believe Magic Breakfast support alleviates pressure on families’ budget.³

Attainment

Pupils in primary schools offering school breakfast achieved, on average,

two months’

additional progress over the course of a year compared to children in schools without breakfast at key stage one.⁴

87%

of our partner schools believe Magic Breakfast has a positive impact on educational attainment, according to our annual survey.⁵

85%

of parents participating in our research believe that eating breakfast has a positive impact on their child’s attainment.⁶

Attendance

Over one in five pupils

in England were persistently absent from school in the 2021/22 academic year.⁷

Magic Breakfast has a positive impact on attendance. Schools with breakfast have

26 fewer half-days

of absence per year in a class of 30, compared to those without breakfast.

Health

One in five

children and young people worry about not having enough food to eat at home, according to research with children and young people in our partner schools.⁸