Richard and Caitlin Brain, who live in Swansea, pay £50 a month each into pensions for their children, aged 20 months and five months. Their eldest will not access the funds until 2082, their youngest until 2083. The couple also save £60 monthly per child into Junior ISAs, which the children can access at 18.
Richard, 30, works for an investment firm and earns less than £90,000 annually. Caitlin, 28, is on maternity leave from her council job. Together they contribute £220 monthly to their children's accounts plus £200 into their own pensions and savings, which means they eat out less frequently and reduce birthday and Christmas spending to maintain this saving discipline.
Junior SIPPs, or junior self-invested personal pensions, were introduced in the UK in 2001. Parents can contribute a maximum of £2,880 per year, and the government adds £720 in tax relief for a total of £3,600 annually. Industry data show the product is gaining traction. Hargreaves Lansdown reported two and a half times as many accounts opened in the 12 months to April 2026 compared to the prior year. Fidelity said account numbers more than tripled since December 2023.
Jemma Slingo, a pensions specialist at Fidelity, projects that £50 monthly contributions from birth, including tax relief, would total £10,800 over 18 years but could grow to approximately £135,000 by retirement. She attributes this growth to "the real power of starting early."
Hugo Thompson, 15, from Manchester, whose parents work in finance and have paid the maximum Junior SIPP amount for 10 years, said he expects the fund to help him retire earlier than state pension age. His mother Annabel noted that Junior SIPPs "should only be considered once you feel you have enough money of your own."
The trend extends beyond the UK. US President Donald Trump launched Trump Accounts in July, allowing families, friends and employers to contribute up to $5,000 per year per child. Unlike UK pensions, children can access funds from age 18, though early withdrawals before 59 and a half face taxes and a possible 10% penalty. Wally Luckeydoo, a personal finance teacher in Tennessee with children aged four and three, opened Trump Accounts to give them what he called a "financial head start" and reshape his family's financial trajectory.