Is this the end of Child Trust Funds?
The Conservative party recently announced plans to bar families earning over £16,000 a year from opening new Child Trust Funds (CTF) and revealed they will lose £500 worth of government top ups for schemes already in existence. This is a major change from the Labour strategy which had been welcomed as a means of saving for the future of children in the UK. It has also given the Labour Party perfect ammunition to strike at the heart of Conservatives party policies which they have always deemed to be "against the poor".
While the £16,000 limit is one which would catch around 3 million families in the UK it is worthwhile considering that those in most need of assistance, i.e. those earning less than £16,000 year, will still receive the CTF. Even though this is a political gamble on behalf of the Conservative party, if you take a step back and ignore party politics the scheme will now be centred purely and simply upon those who are under the £16,000 a year breadline. Surely the CTF scheme was introduced to help those on rock bottom income in the UK?
It will be interesting to see how voters react to the various Conservative party changes which have been proposed if they do, as many expect, return to power.
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