Zayn Malik shared his concerns that British children are going hungry in school, so he called upon U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to do something about it.
This is personal for Zayn, as he relied on free school meals when he was younger and “experienced the stigma surrounding food insecurity.” He told Sunak via Instagram that the “cost-of-living crisis” is now sparking his worries for children who are in the same situation he was once in.
“I am writing… to ask for your help to ensure no child living in poverty misses out on a hot nutritious meal at school especially since that school meal may be the only hot meal they recieve all day,” he told the prime minister.
“Four million children live in households who experienced food poverty in September 2022. In addition, 800,000 children in England miss out on a Free School Meal even though they are living in poverty,” he penned and noted how that is negatively impacting their performance in school as well as their mental, emotional and physical health.
“Parents are already doing everything they can, but Government support is desperately needed. No parent should have to make impossible decisions like whether to buy food, turn on the heating, or go into debt,” said Zayn. “Knowing that their children are getting a good lunch at school would be a huge relief.”
Zayn said Sunak has “the power to change this” and encouraged him to expand the free school meals program to all impoverished children in his upcoming budget. He signed off, “Children going hungry is not inevitable and should not come down to a political issue or ideology.”
Sunak has yet to respond. He’ll commit to a new budget on November 17.
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