The amount of benefits and tax credits received by UK families has risen sharply since 1975, according to a report by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS).

Our aim is clear - to ensure for each child a good start in life

The Chancellor Gordon Brown

And the government's new tax credit system to help families with children has the potential to raise more youngsters out of poverty, the report said.

Measured in 2002 prices, the average amount paid by the government to parents for each child has risen from �12.62 a week in 1975 to �31.28 next year.

The IFS study said the increase was partly due to a greater number of lone parents claiming benefits.

Child support

Government spending on financial support for children has more than doubled since 1975.

Back in 1975 the government support families with children to the tune of �9bn, in 2002 that figure stands at �21bn.

However, Child Benefit payments have decreased in importance.

In 1975 Child Benefit accounted for more than three quarters of the total support for families, next year with the introduction of Child Tax Credit (CTC) it will account for only a half.

In part, according to Mike Brewer, co-author of the report, the shrinking of the importance of Child Benefit is due to an increase in the number of lone parents over the last quarter of a century.

Many of these parents are entitled to claim help from the government, above and beyond Child Benefit.

Tax credit

Six million people with children will be eligible for tax breaks under the CTC.

The CTC will be paid directly to the child's main carer - in most cases, the mother - and will be calculated on annual family income.

The Chancellor Gordon Brown, said: "Our reforms of the tax and benefit system have been designed to put families first. They recognise the very real pressures parents face right up the income scale and they provide extra support to help them balance the needs of work and family.

"Our aim is clear - to ensure for each child a good start in life; to ensure no child is left behind as we eradicate the scourge of child poverty."

The government has a long term target of halving the number of children living in poverty by 2010.

Mr Brewer said: "You can not predict where we will be eight years hence but undoubtedly the government seems to be a long way towards reaching its goal," he told BBC News Online.