Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Daniel  Borbely
Author-Name-First: Daniel 
Author-Name-Last: Borbely
Author-Workplace-Name: School of Business, University of Dundee
Author-Name: Markus Gehrsitz
Author-Name-First: Markus
Author-Name-Last: Gehrsitz
Author-Email: markus.gehrsitz@strath.ac.uk
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde and Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn, Germany
Author-Name: Stuart McIntyre
Author-Name-First: Stuart
Author-Name-Last: McIntyre
Author-Email: s.mcintyre@strath.ac.uk
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde
Author-Name: Gennaro Rossi
Author-Name-First: Gennaro
Author-Name-Last: Rossi
Author-Email: g.rossi@sheffield.ac.uk
Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Economics, University of Sheffield
Title: Does the Provision of Universal Free School Meals Improve School Attendance and Behaviour?
Abstract: The importance of universal free school meals (UFSM) provision has been the subject of significant debate
over the past decade. In this study we examine the effect of UFSM policies on school attendance,
health-related absence and students’ misbehaviour. We leverage UFSM implementation in Scotland
where all pupils in the first three grades of primary schools became automatically entitled to claim free
meals, regardless of their households’ financial circumstances. We estimate a difference-in-differences
model with variation in treatment intensity and find, in spite of a large increase in uptakes, that attendance and school discipline have not improved significantly. These estimates are close to zero and
precisely estimated. We also show that effect heterogeneity does not explain the null effect.
Length:  pages
Creation-Date: 2022-06
Revision-Date: 
Publication-Status: 
File-URL: file:///I:/SBS-Fac/Economics/Course-Admin/Discussion%20Papers/2021-2025/2022/22-05%20Free_School_Meals_Manuscript_Strathclyde_DP.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Number: 2205
Classification-JEL: J13, I18, I28, H51, H52 ∗
Keywords: Attendance, Behaviour, School Meals, Welfare
Handle: RePEc:str:wpaper:2205