No such thing as a free lunch? Exploring the consistency, validity, and uses of the ‘Free School Meals’ (FSM) measure in the National Pupil Database

Tammy Campbell and Polina Obolenskaya

CASE Papers from Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE

Abstract: This paper examines the existing literature on what the Free School Meals ('FSM') measure in the National Pupil Database (NPD) can proxy, and on ways in which the measure is used and understood. Through new empirical analyses of data for Reception-aged children in the NPD, and of the DWP's Household Below Average Income (HBAI) data, it then highlights inconsistencies and change in the characteristics of Reception pupils recorded as 'FSM,' over time, place, and family background. It also suggests increased under-ascription of young children from low-income families / families living in poverty over the recent decade. Implications for research, interpretation, policy-making, and practice are critically discussed.

Keywords: Free School Meals (FSM); National Pupil Database (NPD); Measurement; Education; Schools; Poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I24 I28 I32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-ure
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cep:sticas:/225

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