A Study Comparing Positive Benefits for Parents, and Their Children, of Children Attending the UK's Holiday Activities and Food Program to Parents of Non-attendees

The Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) is a UK Department for Education (DfE) funded program that provides free food and activities for 5-16-year-olds in receipt of means-tested free school meals. This evaluation focuses on parent/caregiver perceptions of HAF benefits during the 2021 and 2022 school holidays for a sample of parents/caregivers whose children attended HAF ( = 736) and a sample who did not attend HAF ( = 885). The results show that parents of children who attend HAF for 4 weeks (i.e., the '4-Week' HAF treatment group) report that their children engage in more weeks of physical activity compared to children in the Non-Attendee group ( = 0.59, 95% CI [0.25, 0.94]). Parents/caregivers of children who attended HAF for 6 weeks or more report no significant difference in household food insecurity compared to parents/caregivers in the Non-Attendee group ( = -0.27, 95% CI [-0.70, 0.16]). The results also show that parents/caregivers are concerned about affordable childcare if their children attend 6 weeks or more of HAF ( = -1.33, 95% CI [-2.07, -0.59]). For parents and caregivers of children who attend HAF for 1 to 5 weeks there is no difference in self-reported compared to parents/caregivers of non-attending children ( = 0.57, 95% CI [-0.09, 1.23]), but parents/caregivers whose children attend 6 weeks or more of HAF report significantly better wellbeing than parents in the control group ( = 1.12, 95% CI [0.56, 1.69]). Parents and caregivers of attendees in the HAF treatment groups are no more or less likely to believe that children are safe in their neighborhood than in the Non- Attendee group ( = 0.12, 95% CI [-0.11, 0.34] for 6 or more weeks of attendance vs. non-attendees). These findings are discussed in relation to prior research, and we make several HAF policy recommendations.