The family is the "bedrock" of the state and children who have two loving parents have a greater chance of succeeding in life, a government minister said today.

John Hutton, the Works and Pension Secretary, said that it was undoubtedly the case that children bought up in a household with two caring parents had better prospects for making the most of their lives, and that the state had to support "strong and stable families".

However, he insisted that he was not telling people how to lead their lives and warned against falling into the "noisy moralising" of the "political right".

Speaking on the role of welfare and the family at a community centre in Clapham, South London, Mr Hutton said that single parents were "far less likely" to be in work than married or cohabiting women.

He said that ending the cycle of poverty often associated with unemployed single parent families was a "critical challenge" for government over the next decade.

The Government should do what was necessary to create a "clear sense of personal responsibility" about what was expected from both parents in terms of their child’s welfare, said Mr Hutton, again floating the idea of a system of compulsory registration of births for both parents.

"For Government, I believe that supporting strong family life is one of the most critical policy challenges of the next decade. But this support needs to be built on an understanding of the changing nature of family life in Britain," he said.

While listing Government initiatives to tackle poverty and help lone parents into work, Mr Hutton contrasted the fortunes of children raised in unemployed single-parent families, saying they were more than five times more likely to be in poverty than children of single parents in full-time employment.

"Work is the best and most sustainable route out of poverty. If we are to end the cycle of intergenerational poverty, then we need to accelerate our commitment to supporting lone parents to get into work and progress through the labour market.

"Despite the gains we have made in lone parent employment, lone parents are still far less likely to be in work than married or cohabiting women with children the same age."

Mr Hutton praised the role of the family and said that he and his four brothers and sisters were brought up just by his mother for eight years. He said for most parents, lone parenthood "brings powerful emotions of regret, guilt and real hardship".

He went on: "What is critical is that even when relationships end, society is clear that responsibilities do not. Parents must continue to play a part in their child’s life. Part of the role for Government is to reflect society’s view that both parents should take active responsibility for the welfare of their child from conception.

"Children whose fathers continue to take an active role in their lives are likely to have better outcomes even if they don’t live with the child’s mother."

Mr Hutton said family policy was "complex territory" for politicians and talking about the family as an issue involved "taking political flak". But to reduce child poverty, he said, the questions he was raising could not be ignored.

"I believe we have to be confident enough to lead the debate about the next steps in welfare reform. And there is no doubt in my mind that helping families to work and to care will be the key to success in the future

Prior to his speech, Mr Hutton said that the next stage of welfare reform should put families at its centre because families provided more welfare and care than the state. But he insisted that Government was not seeking to meddle into people’s lives.

"We have got to understand the limitations that there are on Government in promoting a particular lifestyle choice for parents," he said, adding that the days of imposing a particular choice had "come and gone".

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