Many left-leaning publications have demonized recent GOP efforts to reduce the gross amount that the US spends on various entitlement programs for school-aged children. Chief among these in recent news cycles have been CHIP (a socialized medical program for minors) and reduced-cost school lunch programs and food stamps.

Despite the apparent intentions of this program, there is strong evidence that suggests a long-term inverse effect of providing students with low cost meals. Briefly, research suggests that shielding students from observing economic exchanges (that benefit them) forestalls their development of the ability to accurately gauge the value of these transactions—thus preventing them from adequately internalizing “the value of a dollar” and thus limiting future achievement potential [1-3]. In one long term study, students who received reduced cost lunches were observed to systematically engage in higher-risk financial activity later in life, including gambling and selection low-earning-potential majors like the humanities [4-8].

Moreover, students in the control group, who actively sought employment in order to finance their nutritional needs, were associated with much healthier eating habits throughout their lives—even when accounting for income [9-12]. Students in groups too early to work gainfully still benefited from trial programs that saw them volunteer with simple school activities (shelving library books, emptying recycling bins) in exchange for reduced cost lunches [13,14]. However, a possible drawback of such programs is their centralization, which risks inefficiency in the form of excess wages and noncompetitive hiring.

Intriguingly, studies of children from immigrant groups (who are observed to disproportionately qualify for reduced price lunch programs) were associated with greatly reduced efficacy of work-related intervention—potentially explaining their differential financial outcomes later in life [15,16].

If you liked this analysis, and would like to see more content like this, please consider donating cryptocurrency to help get this site off the ground:

BTC: 18mBdBGqcqMFZhEmV4a1MAb6ERzizLrPZt

BCH: 1E3xZmMdyY3w2qiMeb6uYfDrqCzoEnX55c

ETH: 0x66cE4aD9d0dAd9e445A2214DB2986e45112338EC

LTC: LgdWihUpuF1k9vRPft9Wh6siBz2CWnGFEi

References

Alaimo, Katherine, Christine M. Olson, and Edward A. Frongillo. “Food insufficiency and American school-aged children’s cognitive, academic, and psychosocial development.” Pediatrics 108.1 (2001): 44-53. Dunifon, Rachel, and Lori Kowaleski-Jones. “The influences of participation in the National School Lunch Program and food insecurity on child well-being.” Social Service Review 77.1 (2003): 72-92. Levine, Susan. School lunch politics: The surprising history of America’s favorite welfare program. Princeton University Press, 2010. Tang, Thomas Li‐Ping. “The meaning of money: Extension and exploration of the money ethic scale in a sample of university students in Taiwan.” Journal of Organizational Behavior 14.1 (1993): 93-99. Hanks, Andrew S., David R. Just, and Brian Wansink. “Preordering school lunch encourages better food choices by children.” JAMA pediatrics 167.7 (2013): 673-674. Ralston, Katherine, et al. “The National School Lunch Program: Background, Trends, and Issues. Economic Research Report Number 61.” US Department of Agriculture(2008). Grantham-McGregor, Sally, et al. “Developmental potential in the first 5 years for children in developing countries.” The Lancet 369.9555 (2007): 60-70. Svensson, Lars EO. Price Level Targeting vs. Inflation Targeting: A Free Lunch?. No. w5719. National bureau of economic research, 1996. Jaime, Patricia Constante, and Karen Lock. “Do school based food and nutrition policies improve diet and reduce obesity?.” Preventive medicine 48.1 (2009): 45-53. Hendy, Helen M., Keith E. Williams, and Thomas S. Camise. ““Kids Choice” school lunch program increases children’s fruit and vegetable acceptance.” Appetite 45.3 (2005): 250-263. Baxter, Suzanne Domel, et al. “Accuracy of fourth-graders’ dietary recalls of school breakfast and school lunch validated with observations: In-person versus telephone interviews.” Journal of nutrition education and behavior 35.3 (2003): 124-134. Mirtcheva, Donka M., and Lisa M. Powell. “Participation in the National School Lunch Program: Importance of School‐Level and Neighborhood Contextual Factors.” Journal of School Health 79.10 (2009): 485-494. Posner, Jill K., and Deborah Lowe Vandell. “After-school activities and the development of low-income urban children: a longitudinal study.” Developmental psychology 35.3 (1999): 868. Neumark-Sztainer, Dianne, et al. “School lunch and snacking patterns among high school students: associations with school food environment and policies.” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2.1 (2005): 14. Portes, Alejandro, and Dag MacLeod. “Educational progress of children of immigrants: The roles of class, ethnicity, and school context.” Sociology of education (1996): 255-275. Haider, Steven J., et al. “Immigrants, welfare reform, and the economy.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 23.4 (2004): 745-764.