New savings club for children launched
The Government has announced it will fund a pilot scheme, to the tune of £150,000, to set up savings clubs in primary schools in a bid to help prevent children racking up debts later on in life. This follows a proposal by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Task Group on Responsible Credit and Savings to launch a pilot scheme where savings clubs will be set up in primary schools. The savings clubs will be setup in partnership with credit unions and will encourage children to save small, regular amounts of money.
Research has shown that many financial habits are formed by the age of seven years old with evidence showing that children engage with the financial services sector from a young age. TheLifeSavers project will seek to instill children with good financial habits by educating them about the benefits of saving at an early age. The project is also intended to help push the development of alternatives to pay day lenders in conjunction with credit unions.
The project will pilot in six schools in its first year in south-east London (Lewisham/Bromley), Bradford and Nottingham, before rolling out to up to 100 schools over the next four years, benefitting up to 30,000 pupils.
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Andrea Leadsom said:
‘A key part of our long term economic plan is to secure peoples’ financial futures. And at a time when young people are exposed to financial decisions earlier than ever, LifeSavers is a welcome initiative from the Church of England and the credit union movement. The project will help to tackle the root cause of money problems and develop good savings habits as early as possible.’