Strong start to Junior ISA as parents march £250 Child Trust Fund provisions for those who missed out

Family Investments, a UK-based children’s savings provider, says it has witnessed strong demand for its new Junior ISA, with just under 6,500 accounts opened since the product was launched on November 1st last year.

They have noticed particularly strong demand amongst existing Child Trust Fund (CTF) holders, highlighting parents’ desire to make equal provisions for siblings who may have missed out on the CTF.

All children born after 2nd January 2011 are eligible for the Junior ISA, but unlike its predecessor the Junior ISA does not come with a contribution of up to £250 from the government to kick start the savings habit. However, many parents have sought to level the playing field for their children with many choosing to add £250 or more to their regular savings to match the government CTF contribution.

Parents are engaged with the Junior ISA and this has so far been reflected in the contributions, with the average coming in at around £28 per month compared to the market average of around £24 for Child Trust Funds.

Almost ten thousand parents had enquired about the Junior ISA with Family Investments before it was launched providing a bumper start for the new product, and more than two-thirds of the accounts taken out so far have been opened by mums, continuing the female bias experienced with the CTF.

Despite the strong start to sales, Family Investments believes that both the government and the industry will need to work together to ensure that Junior ISA remains front of mind amongst parents.

John Reeve, Chief Executive of Family Investments said: “The fantastic start we have seen for Junior ISA reflects an underlying demand amongst parents to make a financial provision for their child from an early age. With significant costs, such as university tuition fees or a deposit for a first home to meet, many parents have recognised the need to start saving early.

“Parents have been very receptive to the Family Investments product, particularly as our low minimum premium of £10 per month makes it accessible to all families. We have designed our Junior ISA to appeal to busy parents who are looking for a simple, affordable product that they can manage on their own terms. Both our Junior ISA and Child Trust Fund can be managed online providing round the clock access to key account information.

“The Junior ISA was designed as a universal savings option for parents and Family Investments is committed to making the product a success. However, without the initial nudge of a government voucher, there is no guarantee that parents will continue to see the Junior ISA as the natural home for their children’s savings. Both the government and the savings industry need to continue to build awareness of the product to ensure that the current momentum behind the product continues to build.”

One Space website Extends Support for Single Parents with Launch of Family Health Check

The Single Parent Action Network (SPAN) has today announced the launch of its new Family Health Check, an online triage system for family support workers and single parents experiencing difficulties, to help prioritise issues and signpost families to additional and relevant help.

The online Family Health Check has been funded by the Department for Education as part of the Early Intervention programme that aims to support parents through a range of online and telephone services. The Family Health Check can be accessed through SPAN’s www.onespace.org.uk website.

"The Health Check is not a simple search engine, it priorities issues and treats the user in an holistic way, looking at answers given from various parts of their life," confirms Simon Bates, development director, SPAN.

"Although the Family Health Check is available for use by individuals, it is also designed to be incorporated into the practice of workers who support families as an assessment tool or as a way of exploring issues and to help prioritise and take steps to solve the problems identified."

"From our experience of working with single parents, we know that there are several main areas to address when confronted with relationship breakdown: children and parenting being one of the most important, while training and work, income, divorce and separation, health and well-being, and community and social support are also key, due to the consequential effect on the family,” explains Bates. “The Family Health Check guides its users through a series of questions to provide an individualised signposting and advice sheets on completion addressing these main areas."

"However, this is the start of the journey for many single parents," continues Bates. "Practitioners and families will be able to combine this information with other pillars of support such as a searchable tool designed to help single parents find services in their area. In addition, the One Space website also features 'Ask-the-Experts' where professionals can be contacted for advice and information including family law, child support and a relationship counselling. The site also provides housing advice from Shelter and money advice from the Citizens’ Advice Bureau. A new Virtual Learning Centre also offers a range of free courses to support families through difficulties."

"Although divorce and separation is one of the most stressful experiences that children and parents can go through, we believe that the faster interventions can be made, the more chance we stand of preventing poverty and more entrenched difficulty further down the line.” concludes Bates. “For those who work directly with families, we hope that the One Space website can be used to extend the range of support that is offered and help address the key areas associated with the difficulties single parents face."

For more information please see: www.onespace.org.uk

How much time do you have with your kids?

Monday, 15 August 2011 As parenting guidelines released last week advised parents of a “five-a-day” approach to bringing up their children, research from Bosch Power Tools shows that 45% of parents in fact have under five hours to play and bond with their children per week.

The research also highlighted that only 31% of UK parents take part in educational play and life-skill development such as cooking, sewing or DIY. This is despite 93% of parents deeming it important to pass life skills down to the next generation and 90% admitting it could cause problems later on in their child’s adult life.

Children are also concerned with 50% of kids aged between seven and sixteen stating they would relish more time with their parents to help them learn new things.

63% were eager to develop prowess in the kitchen and 52% also wanted to learn more about DIY and how to fix things in the home without calling for a builder.

In light of this, Bosch Power Tools is launching a campaign to encourage families to “build and bond” by building a tree house together in the back garden this summer.

Sue Palmer, specialist in child development and author of Toxic Childhood, comments “When parents take the time to involve their children in 'everyday' activities like cooking, DIY and mending clothes, they’re not just handing on important lifeskills that will stand the kids in good stead in the future, they’re also showing them value and love. This sort of ‘family time’ is vital to a child’s feelings of self-worth. It used to happen naturally in most families, but modern lifestyles make it more difficult.”

Bosch Power Tools DIY Expert Chris Tidy comments, "It's really important for parents to take the time to teach kids these practical skills because otherwise, it's really going to cost them in the future. Once they leave home they could incur huge expenses when they are unable to rely on their parents. These skills will prove extremely cost effective as young adults in various elements of their life, such as simple DIY tasks, cooking for themselves, decorating their house and customising their clothes."

Of the tiny but questionable 7% of UK parents who didn’t want to pass on skills, 64%, stated they didn’t have time and worryingly, 33% claimed they didn’t have any.

For more information about Bosch Power Tools “Build and Bond” campaign, visit www.bosch-do-it.co.uk

Are We Nearly There, Yet? Free travel guide for parents

With the summer-term breaks getting underway, millions of families are preparing for long car journeys as they hit the road on holidays. However, new research from Peugeot commissioned to support the launch of the new Peugeot 308, reveals the full extent to which nerves will be frazzled and arguments ablaze long before the vast majority reach their destinations, as over half the UK’s parents (55%) admit to losing their temper with their kids on long car journeys.

A startling 62% of parents confess to being happier without their kids in the family car, while 43% admit to feeling anxious, irritable or simply angry when travelling with their children. In an age where family time is at a premium, this is a wasted opportunity for parents who could be making the most from close up time with their children.

Working with Peugeot on the study, expert Child Psychologist Professor Tanya Byron points to a number of highly effective and easy to implement ideas that stressed out parents can draw on in order to turn hours of angst and upset into quality family time.

“In order to ensure a happy holiday, it’s important to make sure the journey there can be part of the fun too,” suggests Tanya. “A stressful journey with whining and fighting kids can cause huge tension and lead to arguments and a bad atmosphere that can overshadow the holiday barely before it has begun.

“It’s only natural that being confined in a small space for a long time will lead children to become bored and in need of distraction and stimulation. However rather than leaving them to their own devices and allowing that frustration to build towards shouting and arguing, be one step ahead and prepare activities and games that will keep them occupied and their minds engaged.”

Even once the journey’s underway, there’s a lot that parents can do to keep boredom at bay and kids calm. While a worrying 60% of parents admit to lying to keep their children quiet and a further 71% confess to offering bribes of sweets to distract their kids, there shouldn’t be any need to resort to either of these potentially damaging quick fixes.

Tanya Byron goes on to say: “It is estimated that sustained attention to a task will range from about five minutes for a two year old to around 20 minutes for older children and adults. Given that children are frustrated by the lack of freedom in a car, it is vital that there are a variety of tasks and activities that they can engage with in order to reduce their frustrations and improve the quality of the long car journey for everyone.

“A car journey family tool kit should include activities and tasks that enable the following:
• Distraction
• Communication
• Relaxation
• Having fun!

“Time spent creatively preparing different activities and fun for the kids, with a variety on hand that can be rotated when the span of attention has finished, will ensure a smoother and happier journey for all. Try to vary the activities in terms of the senses engaged e.g. follow a memory game with a sing song which then leads into some creative play.

“Reward activities successfully completed with healthy treats and stickers on individual charts2, which can be exchanged for treats (a comic, pack of football cards etc.) during breaks in the journey.”
Are we nearly there yet?

Every parent will be familiar with the warning shot across the bow as wriggling children reach their patience thresholds and the first cries of ‘are we nearly there yet’ ring out from the backseat. Peugeot’s poll of more than 2,000 UK parents pinpoints 31 minutes into a long car journey as the moment when those fateful words can first be heard. And the first warning comes only two minutes earlier, 29 minutes into the average journey, as children first show signs of boredom, leaving parents little time to react if they haven’t taken steps already.

But the serious side to in car harmony is safety, as one in five parents say they have either had or almost had a car accident due to their children’s unsettled behaviour, making easy to follow tips and advice all the more important.

For Professor Tanya Byron’s full list of travel tips to make long car journeys something to look forward to rather than dread, visit www.peugeot.co.uk/arewenearlythereyet to download the free guide.

Last Chance for Disney Tickets Offer

FloridaTix has a great offer on Disney tickets this month but you’ll have to hurry as it will be over rather quickly!

The Disney 14 Day Ultimate for the Price of 7 is a great ticket offer for people planning to visit Walt Disney World either this year or in 2012. However, this offer is only valid for bookings made up until 30th June 2011 for arrivals throughout 2011 and 2012 so you will need to book now!!

You will be able to come and go as you please throughout the 14 days, giving you the freedom to visit other attractions and get the most out of your stay. Gain unlimited access to Disney’s most popular areas such as Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park, Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water Park plus much more!

www.floridatix.co.uk/14for7-ultimate-ticket.aspx