Healthy Start Working Group Policy Positions

Healthy Start is part of the UK Government’s benefits scheme targeted at families with children under the age of four and pregnant mothers on very low incomes, as well as all pregnant teenagers aged below 18. It provides a critical nutritional safety net for families who are nutritionally vulnerable.

In 2021 Sustain and The Food Foundation established a working group for civil society and early years healthcare representatives in order to amplify messaging around the programme in the run-up to the scheme being digitised.

This document sets out the Healthy Start working group's shared policy recommendations to improve the scheme and includes a list of recommendations we believe the Government should consider.