Kids eat free: School feeding and family spending on education

We examine the relationship between children's participation in the Nutrition Improvement Programme (NIP) and household education expenditure on students under compulsory education in rural China. We find that participating in the school feeding programme can significantly increase household investment in children's education, especially in-school education expenditure. This positive relationship may be mediated by family economic status, parental time investment in children's education, and children's health status and cognitive ability. There is considerable heterogeneity in the impacts of the school feeding programme across subsamples. In general, male children and children from disadvantaged families, such as those in low-and middle-income households, those with less educated parents, and those left behind by migrant parents, are likely to benefit more from the school feeding programme. We also find suggestive evidence of intrahousehold resource reallocation away from eligible female children in response to the school feeding programme. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study examines the relationship between children's participation in the Nutrition Improvement Programme (NIP) and household education expenditure on students under compulsory education in rural China. The findings show that participating in the school feeding program can significantly increase household investment in children's education, particularly in-school education expenditure. Factors such as family economic status, parental time investment in children's education, and children's health and cognitive ability may mediate this positive relationship. There is also heterogeneity in the impacts of the school feeding program across different subsamples, with male children and children from disadvantaged families benefiting more. The study also suggests that the school feeding program may lead to a reallocation of resources away from eligible female children within households.