The Index, which uses the modern mutual’s own sales data to track trends in investor behaviour, shows the appetite for JISAs was particularly strong in the North West of England, which recorded a jump in new JISA sales of 22% on the last quarter. And in Wales, where JISA sales were up 17%.

Meanwhile, Scotland and the South East also beat the national average increase in new JISAs being opened, both recording a 13% quarter on quarter increase in Q4.

When it comes to the actual amount of money parents are putting into JISAs, that too shows the North West ahead of the pack with opening balances up 14% quarter on quarter. That compares to a UK-wide increase of 2%.

In the majority of regions, bar Wales, where there were marked increases in new JISAs quarter on quarter, the Investor Index also shows upward trends for the value of contributions. In Scotland, these were up 6%  and in the South East they were up 7%.

Jill Mackay, head of marketing and a savings specialist at Scottish Friendly, said: “Our research shows that six out of 10 parents worry that their child won’t be able to afford to leave home once they become adults, with over half concerned that the deposit for rented accommodation will be out of their reach.

“Taking a JISA out for your child is a practical and affordable way to help the next generation build a nest egg that enables them to spread their wings when the time comes. It’s great to see so many parents taking steps to help build greater financial resilience for the young adults of the future.”

The mutual, which would like to see the rules around who can set up a JISA relaxed to include grandparents, aunts and uncles, says that while you can’t put a price on the benefit of building greater financial resilience, you can put a pounds and pence number on the impact of delaying doing it.

Scottish Friendly has crunched the numbers on the cost of delaying, even by just a few years. And the price of delay is significant.

On average, new parents only get their heads around taking out a JISA for their child when they turn 3+ years old.

That equates to three ‘lost’ growth years and sees the child missing out on nearly £6,000 by the time they’ve reached 18. For every subsequent year’s delay, the loss is compounded. If parents wait until the child is 10 years old before taking out a JISA the child misses out on over £15,000 less by the time the child reaches 18.

Ms Mackay concludes: “So perhaps it’s no wonder that more parents are thinking about putting more away to help towards their child’s future goals. It’s great to see and could make a real difference towards the financial resilience of our young adults of the future.”