What is a Child Trust Fund?

Millions of Child Trust Funds were opened during the nine years that the government-backed savings scheme ran, but a large portion ended up getting lost or forgotten about. Don’t lose track of your child’s cash - here’s what you need to know.

Parent and teenage child look at laptop in kitchen.
(Image credit: Anchiy via Getty Images)

Parents with children born in the noughties were fortunate to benefit from free cash deposited into a Child Trust Fund which they could add to, building up a nest egg for their future.

HMRC recorded the value of savings sitting in these accounts to be a staggering £9 billion as of October 2024, despite no new Child Trust Funds being opened since 2011.

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Samantha Partington is an award-winning freelance journalist writing about property, mortgages, personal finance and interiors.

Before going freelance she wrote for the Daily Mail's personal finance section and prior to that she was the residential correspondent for real estate business title Property Week. She was also the former deputy editor of trade title Mortgage Solutions.

Before becoming a journalist, Samantha worked as a mortgage broker and is CeMAP qualified. Follow her on Twitter @SamJPartington1.