Not just for poor kids: The impact of universal free school breakfast on meal participation and student outcomes.
This paper examines the impact of the implementation of a universal free school breakfast policy on meals program participation, attendance, and academic achievement. In 2003, New York City made school breakfast free for all students regardless of income, while increasing the price of lunch for those ineligible for meal subsidies. Using a difference-indifference estimation strategy, we derive plausibly causal estimates of the policy's impact by exploiting within and between group variation in school meal pricing before and after the policy change. Our estimates suggest that the policy resulted in small increases in breakfast participation both for students who experienced a decrease in the price of breakfast and for free-lunch eligible students who experienced no price change. The latter suggests that universal provision may alter behavior through mechanisms other than price, highlighting the potential merits of universal provision over targeted services. We find limited evidence of policy impacts on academic outcomes.
Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, Institute for Education and Social Policy, New York University, 665 Broadway, Suite 805, New York, NY 10012, USA.
Jacob
J
Leos-Urbel
Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, Institute for Education and Social Policy, Steinhardt School of Education, New York University, 295 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012, USA.
Amy Ellen
AE
Schwartz
Steinhardt School of Education, Institute for Education and Social Policy, New York University, 665 Broadway, Suite 805, New York, NY 10012, USA.
Meryle
M
Weinstein
Steinhardt School of Education, Institute for Education and Social Policy, New York University, 665 Broadway, Suite 805, New York, NY 10012, USA.
Sean
S
Corcoran
Child poverty policy; School finance; School meals program; Universal service provision