£250 per child.
 

There has been a lot on the news today about the low uptake for the Government's scheme that gives every child born after a certain date £250 to invest.

Apparently only about a third of the parents of the children, who are entitled to it, have claimed it.

Is this a wise way to spend tax payers money? Has everybody who has had a child taken up their offer, or is it just some sort of sweetner for middle England? Do you have a child who was born before the qualifying date, and one after, is it fair?

What will the invested £250 be worth in eighteen years?

An aid to starting adult life, or enough money for the little darling to go out on a bender?

Re: £250 per child.
 

I'm not 100% sure Garinda, but I think that families have to put some of their own money into trust for their children too to claim the money....and anyone who has small children knows what a huge expense they are.....and often there is not the money in the family budget to put into a savings scheme.

I'm sure that the members with small children will put me straight if I have got it wrong.....but there must be some kind of drawback for so few parents having taken advantage of the scheme.

Re: £250 per child.
 

If you don't use the voucher to set up a trust before it expires the government set it up for you in one of their choosing. Maybe some people are just being lazy and letting it happen for them. So the £250 is not lost if the parents don't use the voucher.

Re: £250 per child.
 

You don't need to add anythying to claim the £250 although Julie and I set up a monthly savings plan to top it up. Hopefully it will be a reasonable chunk of cash by then.

The reason so many haven't bothered is pure apathy. It amazes me to be honest that people care so little that they can't be bothered to sign a form(You get bout 3 or 4 choices in the bounty pack given to you at the hospital).

Re: £250 per child.
 

There are several ways to invest this voucher. If it is not claimed in the childs first year of life as Neil says the government set up the Stakeholder acount for the child and send the details to the parents, they can then change to another account if they are not satisified with the one opened for them. I think they get another amount when they are a little older and they are looking into a 3rd amount at 7 years of age.

http://www.childtrustfund.gov.uk/Homepage/fs/en

Re: £250 per child.
 

I don't know if it's a good idea or not, though I would feel odd having a child that qualified for the scheme, and one that didn't.

If I was a parent I think I'd much rather they keep their/our money and make sure that University education was affordable for all by the time the child was eighteen, and if they wanted it.

A lot of these children who qualify won't have the finances to get further education, as can be seen with this years intake now that there are higher than ever fees, also they will probably have to work until they are eighty to pay for the £250 they were granted as babies.

Re: £250 per child.
 

I wonder if some were hoping it was acash payment that is automatic like the heating lump sum and allowences for the pensioners? Mind you it could be paperwork that scares them or even accepting govenment cash as its seen as a "benifit payment" as opposed to what its real purpose is which is for the future benifit of the child.

Re: £250 per child.
 

When this started there were plenty of people around who thought it was a cash payout. Their children would've seen none of it. Many of these people were young chavs and druggies who just wanted the money. It was a real pleasure telling them that they weren't going to see a penny of it and that it would go into trust for their child. One lass told me that she had only got pregnant to get the cash........Lovely world we live in innit...

Re: £250 per child.
 

Those who can afford to save will save. Those who cannot afford to save will not save no matter what the government does. This is just another exercise in pandering to the concerns of the middle classes in a pathetically transparent attempt to hang on to their votes. It proves yet again just how out of touch with reality this government has become.

Re: £250 per child.
 

"This government"

I agree that the government are seriously out of touch. However; we are not going to get any better from any other party - all they care about is keeping/gaining votes with numerous scams like these; just take what advantage we can out of them and roll with it - there's no better solution or clear answer to this country's troubled parliament, nor will there ever be.

Re: £250 per child.
 

Romps was really upset when you told her that she could not have the money to but some new trainers :rolleyes:

Re: £250 per child.
 

Try and explain trainers go on her feet. No amount of 'butting' will turn them into a hat!:D

Re: £250 per child.
 

Not at all. If it was not for the vouucher I doubt we woulf have put any money aside each month for her. Now because of it we are doing, and for the boys as well. I wonder how many other people, like us, decided we might as well put a little into the fund each month while we were setting it up. Sounds like a good result to me.

Re: £250 per child.
 

You are probably the type of voter Blair was targeting then.

So you are saying that if it wasn't for the scheme that Emily qualified for, it wouldn't have crossed your mind to save for the sons that didn't?

Re: £250 per child.
 

It worked then.
We had not until now. Maybe I am just a bad (read poor) parent

Re: £250 per child.
 

Of course you're not a bad parent, I've met the little angels, just interested to see what parents thought of the scheme, along with everyone else.

Lucky little Emily Garinda, a £250 Government investment plus all my worldly goods.;)

Re: £250 per child.
 

She could do with that potty of yours in a few months if thats ok :D

Re: £250 per child.
 

Mid Victorian oak commode, if you don't mind.;)

Re: £250 per child.
 

Re: £250 per child.
 

I quite agree Willow, that's why I wanted the view of someone like Romps and Neil who have two children that I don't think qualify, and one that does.

If you are going to have a scheme like this at all perhaps every child that is entitled to child benefit should be eligible. Although of course the shorter time the trust was in place, the less return for the older children.

Re: £250 per child.
 

Re: £250 per child.
 

You have to start somewhere.

Re: £250 per child.
 

What I dont get is why are they trying to bribe the electorate to be thats still in nappies in some cases:confused: Do they think they will still be in govenment when it comes to cashing in the favour:confused:

Re: £250 per child.
 

It's the middle England voters they are sweetening with the scheme, not the children. They are probably the ones who have taken up the investment.

Sadly those kids who'll probably need it will have the parents who'll think it's all too much hassle.

Re: £250 per child.
 

See, Rindy...i knew there would be folk on here who would know the answer.
I don't know where I got my ideas from......!

Re: £250 per child.
 

Probably from some one on here

Re: £250 per child.
 

No Neil.......I maybe read something when the scheme was first mooted......you know how the government sets its stall out and then changes its mind about things. I'm sure I read it somewhere too - but to be honest because I don't have any kidlidids.......and I am unlikely to have any more now......I maybe didn't pay enough attention to the article.

Re: £250 per child.
 

I can understand the point of it being unfair if we have one child that qualifies and another that does not. But like Neil says you have to start somewhere. Luckily our boys have bank accounts so they are not starting from scratch. I am glad of the voucher for Emily it has finally made me set up a proper savings plan for all of my children albeit a little late. So Thanks for the kick up the arse Mr Blair. If I was not in a position to do the same for my children that didn't qualify....yes I would feel terribly guilty, and I sympathise with the many parents who find themselves there.

Re: £250 per child.
 

Romps I'm not saying it is unfair. It's been interesting for me finding more about it and how it's used. Cheers my dear.:)

Re: £250 per child.
 

i think the £250 per child is a pathetic attempt at bribing peoples votes and yet another waste of money

considering the state of the dental service wouldnt this money be better spent ensuring that children have their teeth when 16 rather than a few quid in the bank

parents get enough help from the government with tax credits and other benefits already

not having a go at parents i am one myself but to me this £250 could be spent in many better ways than trying to buy votes

ime pretty sure we got a letter asking us to set up a bank account for our child but i havnt got a clue if the ex ever set up an account or not

Re: £250 per child.
 

my opinion of the payment was that it is a blatant scam by the government.
The fund is worth sod all if you don't top it up regularly and all of the choices seem to me to be Government linked. There was even a choice that involved paying out account management fee's. I can't remember the exact details now but we were given a voucher for one child and did nowt with it because we can't really afford to save for her and her elder brother. The voucher should have gone into a fund for her of the governments choice but we have had no correspondence stating where or if we can top it up, that was about 18 months ago.

I am neither a tax expert nor a financial expert but as I read through the details I thought that they were guilting people to pay into savings scams, I mean schemes that one way or another paid dividends for the powers that be.

My children will either have or have not but I will try to do it my way and it will be honest and only my family will benefit from it. It is the same with the ruling that all parents are entitled to Child Care allowance so that the mothers can go back to work. Very good Mr Blair, thank-you Mr Blair, they pay 70% of the nursery fee leaving me to find the other 30% of my childs full time nursery fee, that takes up most of my wife's wage that she gets after she has paid her Income Tax and NI contribution............

.....but at least it gets her out of the house, better for baby, better for mother. better for Blairs unemployment figures, better for the National Insurance and Tax funds, what a load of crap. Am I too cynical and untrusting of stealth tax overlords?

Re: £250 per child.
 

Regardless of who is in power there will always be scams and hidden taxes. Do we work to live or to make the govenment look good?