Normally an individual’s payments into a pension scheme are limited to their relevant earnings in a given tax year. This restriction does not apply where the contributions are less than £3,600 gross, allowing parents and grandparents to make payments on behalf of children and grandchildren with limited income.

Payments of £2,880 a year would attract a 25% uplift from the government which could grow to a substantial amount by the time the child reaches retirement age (currently age 55 but increasing to 57 in 2028). The parent or grandparent may be able to justify that the payments qualify for the regular gifts out of income exemption from inheritance tax mentioned by Andrew McQueen in his blog about Inheritance Tax Planning if a standing order was set up for no more than £240 a month.