Around three quarters of UK parents have set up some form of savings account, ISA or trust for their children, new research from YouGov finds.
The Children’s Savings Accounts and Products report finds that three quarters (75%) of parents have established some form of children’s savings product for their offspring. Parents who consider themselves to be very financially healthy are the most likely to have one (88%), followed by those with a household income of £45,000 or above (83%), and parents in the AB social grade (80%). The majority (68%) of parents with savings products for their children have done it for all of their offspring. However, a small minority (6%) have not, although most of them intend to in the future. Furthermore, a quarter (24%) say none of their children have savings products.
The report found that there are three main reasons why parents take out children’s savings products for their children. The first is to give their children a head start (59%) when they reached a certain age. The second is to teach children how to manage and control their finances (58%). And the third motivation is to allow children to buy something in the future, such as save for a car, a house deposit, or university (50%).
YouGov Reports found that 17% of parents have no savings provision for their children at all. Four in ten (40%) who have not taken out children’s savings products say they cannot afford to save for their offspring, while over a quarter (28%) have made alternative savings provisions. However, there is a relatively large potential market for products as over half (55%) of parents who do not currently have children’s savings products would consider taking one out in the future.
James McCoy of YouGov says: ‘Those parents who can afford to take out savings products for their children usually do, and a notable chunk who don’t have already made alternate savings provisions. When taking out savings products for their children, parents want a product that can generate long-term returns and which can be educational for their children and easy to understand. Parents are interested in children’s savings products as a means of helping their children get ahead and see them as generators of long-term savings for their offspring.’
