If you add in the 1000$ that treasury plans to invest starting next year, that is $1250 compounded at 5% annually after 18 years to $3008.27. It's probably still not a "head start" given that inflation is assumed to nominally rise at 2.5 to 3.5% annually and will take a bite out of what the real value is worth in 18 years. Good intentions but misplaced as others have stated. Investing in other ways to provide upward economic mobility will provide much better ROI for the society than allowing most of the wealth to accrue to a handful of people