The government would not back a "particular lifestyle choice", he said

It was time for the government to put families at the heart of the next stage of welfare reform, John Hutton told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Families already provided more welfare than the state "in bringing up children and caring for older people", he said.

The Tories said "stability" was the most important factor for children.

Mr Hutton had come up with "no new ideas" and should be focusing on the "key measure" of finding work for parents, especially those on their own, said Philip Hammond, the shadow work and pensions secretary.

"Whilst we must put economic stability before tax cuts, we need to do more to support families through the tax system.

"However, we recognise that families come in all shapes and sizes, and that the most important factor for children is stability," he added.

Marriage 'good'

Mr Hutton insisted he would not be telling people how to run their lives.

But it was "undoubtedly the case", he said, "that children have a better prospect of making the most of their lives if they are brought up in a household where there are two caring, loving parents".

It did not matter if the couples were married, cohabiting or in a civil partnership, he claimed.

I think harking back to a bygone era is not actually the way to plan sensibly for the future of our country John Hutton Work and pensions minister

Marriage was "a good thing", however, he added.

"I think there's absolutely no question about that, but I think we've got to understand the limitations that there are on government in promoting a particular lifestyle choice for individuals.

"We just need to look around us and see how people now are choosing to live their lives to know that there is significant change going on in our society."

'No difference'

He went on: "I think harking back to a bygone era is not actually the way to plan sensibly for the future of our country.

"When divorce rates were going through the roof in the '60s and '70s and '80s, successive governments - Labour and Conservative - had an extensive array of tax allowances and tax breaks for married people.

"It made absolutely no difference in the increases to the divorce rates. People will make their own choices."

Explaining that eliminating child poverty was a priority for the government, Mr Hutton asked: "How do we now make further progress in supporting children to live a life without the drag anchor of poverty hanging around their necks?

"My approach is this - that the next stage of welfare reform has actually got to put the family at centre-stage, because it's the families in this country that provide the most care and most welfare."

The Conservatives have claimed that couples with young children are five times more likely to split up if they are unmarried compared to those who have had weddings.