With some relief, I have made it to the end of party conference season. Living standards was the central theme at all three. In that spirit, there were election giveaways for children and families from all three parties. So who offered what?
We started with the Liberal Democrats. Nick Clegg's offer to families was free school meals for all children in reception, Year 1 and Year 2 rather than the current means-tested system. A free lunch will save parents around £400 a year. This will help a bit with the cost of living but the policy is more strongly motivated by evidence from a pilot showing that providing a free lunch to all children helps reduce the attainment gap between better off children and those who are least well off.
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