'Trust funds are no substitute for support in the here and now'
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Your support makes all the difference.Lucy Dichmont and her husband Tim Nelson have two children: Benjamin, who is three, and four-month-old Lily. Following the Chancellor's announcement, Lily will be among the first to receive one of the Government's child trust funds. Ms Dichmont welcomes the move but she does have reservations.
"Any help is a good thing but I'd welcome a grant for university or there not being any tuition fees any more," she explains.
"It's really just lip service, because who knows what the cost of university will be in 20 years' time?"
Ms Dichmont also has serious doubts about the implementation of the scheme and the extent to which lower-income families will benefit.
"The new child tax credits are meant to be helping poorer families, but registering has been such a fiasco. We're a poorer family, but with the old working tax credits we got £90 a week and now we're only going to get £20 a week. Yet our income has gone down rather than up. So how's that helping?
"I like the idea of the long-term growth that the trust fund will offer, but this can't be a replacement for support while the children are growing up. A future nest egg is no good in the here and now."
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