Top Tips for Top Ups

This document forms the ippr response to the Treasury's consultations on additional payments to

Child Trust Funds. A consultation launched on 2 December 2004 asked for views on the correct size

and ratio of progressivity of top-ups at age seven. A consultation launched on 16 March 2005 asked

the same questions for top-ups at secondary-school age, and asked at what age payments

should be given.

To answer these questions about top-ups, we return to the original objectives of the CTF - promoting a savings habit, and providing independence, opportunities, and security - and consider how top-ups could contribute to these objectives. We also consider how top-ups could help promote active citizenship, which is an explicit government objective, and reduce wealth inequality, which is important for achieving other government goals. Dominic Maxwell and Sonia Sodha