I asked my husband to pay into my pension when we had a child – here’s why

Guild says these conversations are easier before a baby arrives than when parents are sleep-deprived and adjusting to life with a newborn.

Molly and Taylor now have two children, aged two and five, and say they were much more prepared the second time around and stopped thinking about household costs as something that always needed to be divided exactly in half.

The couple, who each earn around £60,000, have their own bank accounts alongside a joint account for bills, but are flexible with the amount each contributes when their circumstances change.

During Molly’s maternity leave, for example, they adjusted the split and she’s found it helpful to “view finances as a household”.

The couple say they are teaching their children about money from an early age.

They set pensions up for both kids when they were born and have been paying into them through a monthly direct debit.

Molly explains: “It’s like a gift for the future as they can’t touch that money until they’re in their 60s and we won’t be there to see that.”

They also use Junior ISAs, although Molly points out that once the children are old enough, the money becomes theirs to spend “and if they want to, they can take that money and blow it in Ibiza”.

Taylor says their five-year-old is given small jobs to earn a couple of pounds, rather than simply being bought everything she asks for.

They are also beginning to introduce the idea of saving by telling her that she can spend a pound now or hold on to it and potentially have more later.

Guild says couples should check what support they can receive, including funded childcare hours, external and Tax-Free Childcare, external.

She adds that conversations about money should not stop once parental leave begins and when the baby arrives she advises couples should: