The Children's Mutual reveals today's kids have costly career
aspirations
Released
on: May 6, 2009, 12:41 am
Author: The
Children's Mutual
Industry: Financial
According
to new research from The Children's Mutual, parents could be faced
with bills of between £75,000 and £130,000 in 12 years
time if their young children pursue their top career aspirations
of teacher, doctor or vet.
The
Children's Mutual, the UK's leading Child
Trust Funds provider questioned five and six-year-olds about
what they want to be when they grow up and found that the top
three career choices would all require a significant financial
outlay in the future.
The
report figures show that the current cost of a three-year degree
course is nearly £42,000, but when these five and six-year-olds
are ready for university it could be as much as £56,300.
And the additional costs of training to be a doctor or vet will
add to these bills significantly.
The
research also found that children have high aspirations regardless
of their socio economic background, with six of the top 10 career
choices requiring further training or higher education. The
Children's Mutual is encouraging all families with young children
to review how much they are saving to ensure they don't jeopardise
their own financial futures by having to find big lump sums of
money when their children reach adulthood.
Tony
Anderson, Marketing Director at The Children's Mutual, said: "It's
encouraging that today's five and six-year-olds have such lofty
ambitions. But the top three career choices all require higher
education and training in order to be able to fulfill them, meaning
parents are likely to have to find significant lump sums to help
their children achieve their aspirations.
"The
Child Trust Fund (CTF) was introduced to help level the playing
field to give all children a tangible financial asset when they
turn 18 which can help shape their futures, which, in many cases,
will include higher education. By saving regularly into a Child
Trust Fund over the long-term, families could help their children
pursue their chosen careers without jeopardising their own financial
futures."
The
CTF is designed to provide a tax efficient, long term savings
vehicle for all eligible young children. Each newborn child (born
on or after 1 September 2002), receives a voucher worth £250
(£500 for low income families) from the Government when
their parents register for Child Benefit, which must be used to
open a CTF account on the child's behalf. Currently the Government's
preferred option is a Stakeholder
Child Trust Fund Account. The CTF provider then manages the
account until it matures and become available to the child when
they are 18.
The
latest Children's Mutual annual - 'What I Want To Be When I Grow
Up' - found that since last year the role of teacher has risen
from third place to knock doctor off the top spot, while vet has
also increased in popularity moving up from fourth to third place.
But the biggest mover is that of footballer which has risen three
places from seventh to fourth. There are four new entrants to
the top 10 list - actor/actress, dancer, hairdresser and TV/cartoon
character have entered the running, with prince/princess, builder/carpenter/decorator,
nurse and ballerina all falling from the list.
- ENDS -
About
The Children's Mutual
The Children's Mutual is the Home of the Child
Trust Fund and the only UK company which specialises in savings
for children. The company's mission is to help families fulfill
their hopes for today's children.
The
Children's Mutual has won the The Moneyfacts Award for Best CTF
Provider every year since its 2006 launch, and The 2009 Moneywise
Children's Savings Award for the best share-based CTF provider.
The
company is currently the choice of over 1 in 5 parents for their
child's CTF.
Further information and statistics can be obtained by
contacting:
Katie Donlan
Senior Account Executive
Consolidated PR
22 Endell Street
London
WC2H 9AD
020 7781 2376
www.thechildrensmutual.co.uk
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