Six million eligible for Junior Isas

Six million children are set to be eligible for the Junior Isa when the new tax-free savings accounts launch this week, as the Government drives to strengthen the savings culture.

Junior Isas will be made available from tomorrow, with a £3,600 limit a year, a move hailed as having the “potential to be the most successful children’s savings scheme of all time”.

The Treasury estimates six million children will be eligible for the Isas, with a further 800,000 becoming eligible each following year. They will run alongside the Child Trust Funds (CTF) introduced by the previous government.

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But the Institute for Public Policy Research warned the launch of the Isa scheme will spell the end of the CTFs, which were introduced for children born on or after September 1 2002.

CTFs were scrapped for children born from this year within weeks of the coalition Government taking office in a bid to save £500m a year, prompting anger in some quarters. The Government has said it is trebling CTF saving limits to reach the same level as Junior Isas.

Jayne Dowle: Page 11.

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