Ask most couples who handles the household finances, and you’ll usually get a confident answer. Ask who opened the kids’ savings account, and the answer might be different.
Mothers are 79% more likely than fathers to open a Junior ISA for their child.1 It’s a striking gap, and it raises an interesting question: even in households where money is managed together, does saving for the children end up becoming one person’s job? And it raises an interesting question: even in households where money is managed together, does saving for the children end up becoming one person’s job?
Why it can work out this way
Day-to-day money management comes with plenty of obvious jobs: sorting the bills, keeping an eye on spending, moving money between accounts. Saving for a child’s future can be easier to leave for another day.
And because there’s no reason it has to sit with the person who normally manages the household finances, it can easily become something one parent picks up while the other barely thinks about it.
There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that split. But saving for a child doesn’t have to be one person’s job either. Even a quick conversation about what you’re saving for, how much you’re comfortable putting away and where you want to keep it can get both of you on the same page.
What you’re actually deciding
A Junior Cash ISA is a savings account for your child, opened in their name. You manage it to begin with – choosing how much to pay in and when, with no obligation to commit to a set amount – though your child can choose to take over managing it themselves from age 16. The interest it earns is tax free for as long as it’s open.
The money belongs to your child from the day it’s paid in. You can’t take it back out once it’s there, and neither can anyone else. When they turn 18, they can access the money themselves and decide what to do with it.
That makes opening one a different decision from putting some money into an ordinary savings account. You’re setting money aside specifically for your child and accepting that it’s theirs.
It also means the conversation doesn’t have to begin with a perfect long-term savings plan. It can simply start with the decision to put some money aside and leave it untouched for your child until they turn 18.
Making it a shared conversation
One person might still end up opening and managing the account. But that doesn’t mean all the thinking has to sit with them.
There are a few simple things to talk through together. What do you hope the money might help your child with later – studying, travelling, a first home or even starting a business? Then there’s how often you want to contribute, and how saving for your child fits alongside everything else your household is paying for.
The practical job of opening an account might only fall to one person. The decision behind it can still belong to both of you.
Junior Cash ISA at OakNorth
The OakNorth Junior Cash ISA is now available for parents who want to put money aside for their child’s future. We can currently only open accounts for children under 14, and we’re not yet able to accept transfers in from a Child Trust Fund – we’ll update this if that changes.
You can open and manage the account through the app or online, with no branch visit or paperwork by post.
Your eligible deposits with OakNorth are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £120,000 per eligible person, per bank, across your total eligible deposits. This article is general information, not financial advice, and doesn’t take into account your personal circumstances. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may be subject to change in the future.
¹Research commissioned by Columbia Threadneedle Investments, fieldwork by Opinium among 2,000 UK investors aged 18+, 11–21 October 2024. As reported by International Adviser, February 2025
