It’s not just a few here and there either. A staggering 98% of 10-year olds are already putting money aside for school, university or even their first house, according to Scottish Widows, which carried out the research.

The study revealed that 80% of kids receive pocket money from their parents and 70% save some of the money, revealing perhaps a new savings culture among families.

Professor Jane Humphries from Oxford University attributes this trend to the fact these children began school around the start of the financial crisis so perhaps growing up in an age of austerity has made them realise that saving for a rainy day is sensible.

She also said that the rising costs of education may have prompted their concern with saving for university or college.

This is the second such survey in as many months showing more young people are getting into the habit of saving. RBS research found 75% of teenagers are saving more.

It’s encouraging to see that some good may have come from the economic crisis and that kids seemingly don’t want to end up in the same financially-tough situations as their parents.

But it is vital to keep this savings momentum going, something which will only be possible if parents, teachers, financial institutions and the government work together to educate kids from as young as possible.

A lot of work is being done in the field of financial education at the moment. Just last week the Take Charge movement, conceived by pfeg (Personal Finance Education Group), was launched as a means of uniting a group of charities working across the UK to give young people the skills and knowledge to become financially capable, enterprising and employable.

Big banks are getting involved too. RBS, for example, has extended its financial education resources to primary schools via an online system for teachers, while continuing to offer a free and impartial programme to secondary schools across the UK.

All of these schemes are to be welcomed. But what people mustn’t forget is that financial education needs to be interesting, engaging and targeted properly. It’s no good talking about hypothetical examples; kids need to be made aware of the harsh realities of poor money management.