Designing a Life-Course Savings Account: How to help low-to-middle income families save more
Article
Families in the UK, especially low-to-middle income families - the median family income in 2008/09 was around £26,000 - find it hard to save, other than for short-term events such as Christmas and family birthdays. Among the reasons they give is a belief that the right savings vehicle does not exist for them.
Based on workshops with would-be service users and providers, this report identifies the key features of an attractive and feasible 'life-course savings account' and proposes two specific savings products: a Lifetime Bonus Savings Account, aimed at encouraging saving, particularly to help families cope with emergencies, and a Long-term Investment Account, designed to replace the existing cash ISA scheme for savers at a higher level. These kinds of savings products balance rewards for savers against the cost to the public purse.
Related items
Britons back local leaders with fiscal firepower
“Death and taxes,” they say, are life’s only certainties. But there’s a third - wherever taxes are controlled, power lies.Filling the funding gap: at what cost to Scotland’s public services?
Last week the Scottish government published its delayed Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) which ‘provides the economic, funding and spending outlooks for the financial years 2025/26 to 2029/30’ and ‘the Government’s fiscal strategy to…This time must be different: Overcoming barriers to social care reform
Adult social care services across England are struggling to keep up with increased demand, let alone improve. But failure is not an option.