Recent research by Family Investments suggests that one of the main reasons for the lack of take up of Child Trust Fund vouchers is the amount of choice that parents have as to where to put the money.
This goes against the common thought that parents simply did not know anything about the vouchers.
The research also suggests that having a year in which to make a decision means that many parents put off the decision, and I guess many then forget about the vouchers all together. They’re lucky that even if they do forget, the government eventually decides where their money will be invested anyway. But obviously they are losing out in potential growth by not having the vouchers invested.
This is perhaps some comfort for the government, who have recently decided not to invest any more money in promoting the vouchers.