This recession has made us more keenly aware of the value of money than any other. After a decade of wilful spending on credit, people are now returning to the save-to-spend culture that defined their parents' generation and they are beginning to pass those thrifty values on to the savers of tomorrow.

A recent EBS members' survey, to mark the first anniversary of the launch of its Big Children's Savings Account, found that 70% of people believe one of the positive effects of the recession will be that children will have a better appreciation of the value of money. EBS head of marketing Aidan Power says we are experiencing a fundamental shift in attitudes towards spending and saving and that people are far more likely to actively encourage their children to start saving.

"Given everything that has gone on in the past 12 months, parents are encouraging their children now to save more for the future. You can see that coming through in people's attitudes to money and to spending versus saving. We are still very much a nation of savers and spenders – the national average is around 50:50 – but what we will find in 12 months time is that we are more a nation of savers and that is going to come through more and more as time goes on. We are going back to the traditional values of managing money, where you are saving money to get something or you are almost there before you want to buy it," he says.

Saving is a habit that must be developed. For a lot of us, that habit came later in life with the advent of SSIAs. Getting into the habit of saving much earlier will stick with children for life, says Ciarán Phelan, chief executive of the Irish Brokers Association.

"The downturn is going to lead to a new generation of Irish savers and spenders whose attitudes will probably be a lot different to those Celtic Tigers cubs who grew up in the boom years. Teaching children the value of saving in their formative years will go a long way to shaping their attitudes towards money in later years. In addition, there are numerous children's saving accounts offered by the various financial institutions which are specifically designed to get children into the habit of saving, no matter how small the amount. Our experience would indicate that where a savings habit is established early, those people are likely to display better financial planning throughout their lives, including establishing a pension much earlier in their working lives," he says.

Even though they can be started with as little as €1, children's accounts these days are far more sophisticated than you or I may remember and the interest rates applied are nothing to be sniffed at.

Permanent TSB leads the market with a 3% variable rate currently available on its Safari Saver Account, followed by the EBS Big Children's Savings Account earning 2.35% variable interest and Ulster Bank's Urfirst Account at 2.3% variable. In fairness, though, you would be hard-pressed to find a child who gets excited about the interest rate their savings attract so the emphasis is still on making saving fun by means of characters such as Ulster Bank's Henry Hippo, competitions, free gifts, online access, and setting savings targets. Children can even earn bonuses for demonstrating good savings behaviour: the Big Children's account, for instance, includes a bonus of €25 if kids make two deposits within six months.

"We are trying to have as much engagement with them as possible, so saving money isn't about being boring or anything like that. We want to make sure that is fun for the children and that they enjoy it every bit of the way," says Power.

Credit unions are particularly strong on encouraging children to start the savings habit and youngsters account for a surprisingly high 12% of their membership. Encouraging children to save is one of the core tenets of the movement, says Kevin Johnson, chief executive of the Credit Union Development Association.

"Very often these accounts were set up by their parents or grandparents when they were born and in later years children continue the savings habit by using the account to keep safe their communion and confirmation money… We have also found that coming to the credit union is almost routine for these children, and many will visit their local branch on a weekly basis to lodge money no matter how small the amount. Most children enjoy the process and are known to staff," he says.

Some credit unions take this one step further by actually running branches in schools with a designated time and day each week for transactions throughout the year; they also run education programmes for transition year students.

"It is imperative that children and teenagers get in the habit of saving from an early age. Credit union experience would indicate that parents are keen to instill a responsibility in their children when it comes to money," he says.

No bank is going to survive on the deposits of its junior clients but it is no surprise that financial institutions are active in encouraging children to become members and account-holders. Building a relationship with a child from an early age is likely to create a loyalty that will benefit the bank, building society or credit union in later years.

"When you are talking about the size of the market, you are talking about future savers and the size of future markets. It is really about talking to kids growing up now and, from an EBS perspective, we are talking to members of the future," says Power.

It should be noted that there are no exemptions from tax for these accounts despite the account-holder's youth. Though it's galling to think that you can be barely out of nappies and paying tax already, the government makes no distinction between accounts and the same Deposit Interest Retention Tax rate is applied. This currently stands at 25% following the most recent budget and, as always, the financial institution withholds it on the government's behalf. Another, slightly more painful lesson about the realities of being a grown-up.