The figures have been released on the eve of Child Trust Fund Week, which takes place between January 15 to January 20, 2007, in a bid to encourage all parents and other family members to save for their children’s future and help raise awareness of the Child Trust Fund among hard to reach groups.
We want parents, grandparents and whole families to use the Child Trust Fund and we are asking schools to start using the accounts to teach kids about money and savings, said Mr Balls. And for children who still have Christmas money unspent, I’d encourage parents to put that money in their Child Trust Fund account.
The Child Trust Funds were first introduced into the UK for all children born on or after September 2002. The UK government offered a GBP250 voucher to start off each child’s account and an additional GBP250 when the child turned seven. Children from lower income households receive an extra GBP250 at birth and when they turn seven.
The newly published figures indicate that, between the introduction of the scheme in April 2005 and the end of December 2006, a total of 2.48 million accounts have been opened, with 1.95 million having been opened by the parents themselves and the remainder by HM Revenue and Customs.
