The Guardian view on summer holidays: a good break is not a luxury | Editorial

Inequality grows when school terms finish, and tackling ‘holiday hunger’ is not enough

Many parents as well as children look forward to the last day of term, even if balancing work and childcare or occupying young ones can be difficult. July and August are when most of us take our longest breaks from work, to travel, visit and spend time with our families and friends. At such key moments as the end of primary school, summer puts the full stop on a stage of life.

But if many people spend weeks planning and peering at maps, for others the holiday is a challenge of a different sort. Last year, MPs warned that up to 3 million children risk going hungry, due to their reliance on free school meals, while a 2013 study found that 30% of people were unable to afford a holiday of any sort. The uncomfortable truth is that, while many of us feel at our most free and joyful over the summer, holidays are also when the experiences of rich and poor families are furthest apart. Where some anticipate weeks of adventure, others see endless blank days to fill.

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2JQmNcH