In Spain, over one million primary school students have lunch at school every day for a maximum price that ranges, depending on the autonomous community, between 4 and 7 euros (Spanish Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, 2023). Participation is higher among children from families with more resources, whereas those in situations of vulnerability may be excluded due to affordability problems (Giamello, 2022).

School meal programmes can significantly improve child well-being (Lundborg et al., 2022) because, in addition to guaranteeing a balanced diet, they also provide access to a safe space that favours social development and learning and, at the same time, become an essential part of the education curriculum (Guio, 2023). Ensuring equitable access to this service is key to the well-being of children and their families, especially in contexts with high child poverty. 

School canteens operate during the midday slot, usually between 12.30 and 3.00 pm. In addition to the meal, this period can include leisure activities led by instructors, such as games, workshops, or educational initiatives designed to promote coexistence and respect. 

Each academic year, the Government of Catalonia sets a maximum price for the canteen service. In the last year analysed in this research – the 2021-2022 academic year – this limit was 6.33 euros/day. In the city of Barcelona, in order to ensure equitable access to this service, the Barcelona Education Consortium finances individual subsidies for school meals aimed at vulnerable families. The eligibility criteria is based mainly on family income, with thresholds adjusted according to household composition. Thus, in the 2021-2022 academic year, for example, the annual income threshold for a family with two parents and two children stands at 23,061.10 euros. Families with incomes below this threshold receive a subsidy that covers 70% of the cost of the meals. Meanwhile, full subsidies, which cover 100% of the cost of the daily menu, are awarded to those families with incomes below 60% of the reference threshold. In addition, until recently, it was necessary to obtain a minimum score of 10 points in an evaluation carried out by the Municipal Institute of Social Services of Barcelona in which family circumstances (e.g., large, single-parent, or foster family) and social needs (e.g., social risk) alike were taken into account.

Figure 1 shows the geographical distribution of school meal subsidies in Barcelona, highlighting socioeconomic differences between districts.

In this study, the causal impact of school meal subsidies on academic performance is evaluated using two metrics. The first corresponds to the results of the basic skills tests, exams taken by all Year 6 pupils in Catalonia. In these tests, skills in Catalan, Spanish, English, Maths and Science are assessed, with scores ranging from 0 to 100. The data are available for all the academic years between 2017-2018 and 2021-2022, with the exception of 2019-2020, when the exams were cancelled due to covid-19. The second metric is based on the annual grades of each student in these subjects, expressed on a scale of 1 to 4, using data available for the academic years 2019-2020 to 2021-2022.

To analyse the effect of partial subsidies, two groups of pupils are compared: a) those who receive the aid because their household income is just below the eligibility threshold, and b) those who do not receive it because their income is slightly above this threshold. The hypothesis is that these pupils have very similar socioeconomic characteristics, so the only relevant difference between them is whether they receive the school meal subsidy or not. This technique makes it possible to measure the causal impact of the partial subsidy on academic performance. 

In addition, to evaluate the impact of the 100% subsidy, the academic results of the beneficiary pupils in the academic years in which they received the full subsidy are compared with the grades obtained in those in which they only received a partial subsidy.

The first graph in this article presents the main results. Students who received partial subsidies obtained higher scores in all subjects compared to their classmates who did not receive subsidies, although only the results in Catalan are statistically significant. In addition, students who went from receiving partial to full subsidies experienced improvements in their annual grades in all subjects but, once again, only the coefficients for Catalan language are statistically significant. As shown in figure 2, the profile of the child who benefits most from the school meal subsidy programme is a boy who studies in a large, low-complexity school. That is, a socioeconomically advantaged school.

Firstly, the school meal subsidies allow beneficiary children to spend more time at school. Academic literature associates longer school hours with better academic results (Lavy, 2019) and with better subjective well-being among children (Agüero et al., 2021). Indeed, the results obtained from the Survey on the subjective well-being of children in Barcelona (2021), which is shown in figure 3 and compares the satisfaction of beneficiary children with that of pupils who have applied for the subsidy but have not obtained it, enable confirmation that the school meal subsidies have a positive impact on the subjective well-being of students, especially in terms of their satisfaction with school life and their relationships with their classmates. Greater well-being translates into more learning. 

Secondly, as has been seen, the positive impact is especially noticeable in low-complexity schools. This is because it is precisely in these schools that Catalan is more commonly used, as shown in figure 4. The subsidies, therefore, allow beneficiary children to have the opportunity to interact more at school with other children who usually communicate in Catalan. And not only that: according to the results obtained from PISA data, these classmates of beneficiary students come from more advantaged backgrounds and have a better command of the Catalan language. 

The results of this study show that school meal subsidies not only offer an essential meal in the day-to-day life of many vulnerable children, but also give them the opportunity to interact and communicate with children from more advantaged backgrounds with whom to strengthen their language skills in Catalan. At the same time, connections and bonds are created between children from different socioeconomic backgrounds, which in the future may have positive consequences in terms of social and educational cohesion (Chetty et al., 2022). Unfortunately, these results are not observed in schools of high complexity, where Catalan is spoken less frequently and, therefore, opportunities for peer learning of the language are more limited. At these schools, in addition to school meal subsidies, additional policies are needed to reduce educational inequalities.

AGÜERO, J., et al. (2021): Do More School Resources Increase Learning Outcomes? Evidence from an Extended School-Day Reform, IZA DP No. 14240 , IZA Institute of Labor Economics.

CHETTY, R., et al. (2022): «Social capital II: determinants of economic connectedness», Nature, vol. 608(7921), 122-134. 

GIAMELLO, C. (coord.) (2022): El comedor escolar en España: la visión de las familias, EDUCO.

GUIO, A.-C. (2023): «Free school meals for all poor children in Europe: An important and affordable target?», Children & Society, vol. 37(5), 1627-1645.  

LAVY, V. (2019): «Expanding School Resources and Increasing Time on Task: Effects on Students’ Academic and Noncognitive Outcomes», Journal of the European Economic Association, vol. 18(1), 232-265.  

LUNDBORG, P.; D.-O. ROOTH; J. ALEX-PETERSEN (2022): «Long-Term Effects of Childhood Nutrition: Evidence from a School Lunch Reform», Review of Economic Studies, 89(2), 876-908. 

MINISTERIO DE EDUCACIÓN, FORMACIÓN PROFESIONAL Y DEPORTES (2023): Las cifras de la educación en España. Curso 2021-2022.